COURT DOCUMENTS SHED LIGHT ON MU PLAYER ARREST

COLUMBIA -- The 50 pounds of marijuana confiscated Sunday at the home of
Missouri tight end Brandon Ford represented the fourth delivery of
marijuana to Ford since July, according to papers filed with the Boone
County Circuit Court in Columbia.

Ford was suspended from the team earlier this week after police raided his
home. He has not been charged, but a federal investigation is under way.
The case is the second incident of its kind in the last five months
involving an MU football player.

According to an affidavit filed by Richard Ferrari, a member of the
Missouri State Highway Patrol and a member of the FBI's Mid-Missouri
Unified Strike Team and Narcotics Group (MUSTANG), a woman was stopped for
speeding Sunday on I-44 at the 47-mile marker in Lawrence County.

The affidavit stated she gave Cpl. G.L. Braden of the Highway Patrol
permission to search her vehicle, where he discovered two suitcases
containing 18 packages of marijuana weighing about 50 pounds.

The woman told officers, according to the affidavit, that she was on the
way to Columbia to deliver the marijuana to Ford. She also said this was
her fourth trip to deliver marijuana to Ford, the first having been in July.

She said that on the first two trips, she flew to Texas with Ford and that
he arranged a marijuana purchase and put it into a vehicle he had rented
for her to drive back to Missouri.

On the last two trips, according to the affidavit, she met Ford in Texas,
with him placing the marijuana in the car she was to drive. On all the
previous trips, according to the affidavit, Ford flew back to Columbia and
arranged for her to meet him at his residence.

The affidavit stated that Ford on several occasions Sunday contacted the
woman by cell phone during her drive to Columbia. Those phone calls were
monitored by law-enforcement officials.

On the last phone call, about 3:36 p.m., Ford stated he would be at his
residence in Columbia and would contact her so she could deliver the marijuana.

Law-enforcement officials observed the woman's delivery of the marijuana,
and the affidavit stated it was taken out of the rented vehicle she was
driving and placed in the back seat of a green, four-door Mitsubishi
Gallant parked at Ford's home.

When Ford tried to leave with the woman in the rented vehicle, he was
detained. Ford, who is from Galveston, Texas, declined comment Friday.

"At the advice of my attorney, I've been told not to comment on my case,"
said Ford, who was released after police officials confiscated the
marijuana, nearly $20,000 in cash and other items, including an address
book and electronic scales.

Ford referred The Star to his attorney, Bogdan A. Susan, of Columbia. Tom
Davis, of the same law firm as Susan, told The Star he could not comment on
any aspect of the case.

Jeff Lanza, an FBI spokesman in Kansas City, said the bureau was assisting
in the Ford investigation.

"It was originally a Highway Patrol case. The FBI's MUSTANG task force
served as backup to the execution of the search warrant on Sunday and
assisted in additional investigation," Lanza said. "The investigation is
continuing. The matter will be presented to the U.S. attorney's office for
possible charges."

The drug-related arrest followed by five months that of MU sophomore
cornerback John McPherson, from Kansas City. On July 27, he was arrested on
Interstate 70 near Odessa, Mo., after police found 100 pounds of marijuana
in the car he was driving. McPherson has been charged with second-degree
drug trafficking in Lafayette County Court, and his case is ongoing.

On Friday, McPherson's attorney, Paul R. Katz, said he had no knowledge
that the two cases were connected.

"We're not tied to that in any way I (or McPherson) know of," Katz said.

McPherson was dismissed from the team by then-head coach Larry Smith in
August. Ford was suspended by MU athletic director Mike Alden earlier this
week while Alden searched for Smith's replacement.

Gene McArtor, senior associate athletic director at MU, said the athletic
department would review both cases.

"We certainly want to be proactive in this situation," McArtor said. "We're
not going to just sit back and wait and see."

Gary Pinkel, who Wednesday was hired to replace Smith, expressed his
concern Thursday over the Ford and McPherson situations.

"Anytime you have a disciplinary issue, especially of a magnitude like
that, it's very critical," Pinkel said. "I just got here and obviously will
address that.

"You want to run a first-class program. Everything they say and they do
reflects on the football program and the university. Those are some things
we'll constantly address and, hopefully, do a good job of improving on."