DRUG AGENT ENTERED HOME WITHOUT WARRANT

Romanowski's Wife Testifies During Hearing

Saturday, May 05, 2001 - CASTLE ROCK - An emotional Julie Romanowski
testified Friday that a federal drug investigator entered her home without
invitation, shook his finger in her face and pounded his fist on a kitchen
counter while questioning her about a prescription for the weight-loss drug
Adipex. "He made a comment that was pretty painful," the wife of Denver
Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski testified in Douglas Count District
Court. "'Do you know what the street value is of this drug?' I said, 'No.'
He said, "'Come on, Julie, you know a lot more than what you're telling me.'"

Julie Romanowski broke down in tears while testifying about an Aug. 21,
1999, interview with Drug Enforcement Administration investigator W. Kyle
Brannon.

Prosecutors allege that drugs prescribed for Julie Romanowski and a family
friend were really intended for Bill Romanowski's use.

Bill Romanowski has been charged with one count of unlawful possession of a
controlled substance, two counts of conspiracy and one count of obtaining a
controlled substance by fraud and deceit.

His trial has been tentatively rescheduled for 8:30 a.m. June 26. Julie
Romanowski is scheduled to go to trial Aug. 14 on eight counts of obtaining
phentermine (Adipex is a trade name) by fraud and deceit and one count of
conspiracy.

Attorneys for the Romanowskis argued Friday that statements the couple made
to investigators should be suppressed because officers entered the home
without permission or a search warrant, attorney Jeffrey Springer said.

They are also arguing that the couple's constitutional rights were violated.

Meanwhile, Brannon and other law enforcement officers gave conflicting
accounts of how they gained entry to the Romanowskis' home.

Brannon reversed his testimony made in court in February. During a Feb. 8
hearing, Brannon said that he and Douglas County sheriff's investigator
Jeff Grimwood entered the home at the invitation of Glen Schmelter, a
friend of the Romanowskis who was living in the couple's home.

Investigators said they had been watching the couple's home and a nearby
Safeway, hoping to nab someone picking up the Adipex prescription.

They confronted Schmelter in the Safeway parking lot Aug. 21, 1999, and
followed him to the Romanowskis' home in Heritage Hills.

Brannon had said he and Grimwood were waiting in the foyer of the home when
Bill and Julie Romanowski came out to meet them.

On Friday, however, Brannon said he and Grimwood stepped into the foyer at
Schmelter's invitation, but felt uncomfortable and stepped back outside and
remained there until the Romanowskis invited them in.

Grimwood also said that he and Brannon waited outside. But sheriff's deputy
Jeff Agnor and Sgt. Holly Nicholson-Kluth recalled seeing Grimwood and
Brannon entering the house once.

Grimwood also testified that Bill Romanowski looked "defeated" when they
asked him about the Adipex prescription and tried to offer an explanation.

Bill Romanowski said that "for 12 years, he had an eating problem before
games. He gets real nervous and he eats a lot. ... He wanted something to
deter his appetite," Grimwood said.

Bill Romanowski was at Broncos minicamp and did not attend Friday's
hearing. The hearing will continue in District Court Judge Thomas Curry's
courtroom May 15.