FRIEND CONVICTED IN LAUNDERING CASE

Tony Martin, the Miami Dolphins' great hope in their long drive for a
Super Bowl victory this season, felt as if God had blessed him
Thursday afternoon.

As he sat still with a bad case of what he later called the
"butterflies," a federal jury of eight women and four men found the
All-Pro wide receiver not guilty of laundering money from the drug
operation of his childhood friend, Rickey Brownlee of Opa-locka.

"Oh, man, I just want to praise the Lord right now and give Him all
the glory," said Martin, 33, thanking his family, friends, teammates
and coach.

The jury's acquittal on the five counts, delivered after three days of
deliberations, gave Martin a second chance at a pro football career
marked by extreme highs and lows during the past decade for the
Liberty City native. His co-defendant was less fortunate: Brownlee
was convicted of drug trafficking and money-laundering.

A split second after the verdict was read, Martin's attorney reached
over and hugged the Dolphin wide receiver, who raised his fists to his
eyes as if he were about to cry.

"Praise God," Martin's father, Hal, rejoiced from the first row in the
courtroom. "Hallelujah."

Martin rose from the wooden chair in which he sat for more than three
weeks of his federal trial and embraced his mother, Sarah, who had no
doubt about her son's innocence. "I believed in him all the way," she
said. "I wasn't nervous because I believed in Jesus Christ."

Dozens of supporters followed Martin -- who once tied an NFL record
with a 99-yard touchdown reception with the San Diego Chargers in 1994
- -- out of the courtroom as if he had just made the biggest play of his
life. Martin admitted to having "butterflies" throughout his 3
1/2-week trial.

"It was all or nothing," Martin told a mob of media outside the U.S.
District Courthouse. "My whole career flashed before me as I sat there
[in the courtroom]."

Childhood mentor

Martin's childhood mentor, Brownlee, was not as fortunate as the boy
he helped steer toward a life in football, starting as a quarterback
at Northwestern High School. The jury found Brownlee guilty of
conspiring to launder profits from his drug business to lease luxury
cars and to retain an attorney after he was charged with distributing
cocaine and heroin early last year.

Jurors, who refused to talk to reporters, found that Brownlee
masterminded the money-laundering scheme from the Miami Federal
Detention Center. On taped phone conversations, the twice-convicted
drug dealer was caught arranging for his Opa-locka associates to
secure him an attorney for his third drug-trafficking offense.

Martin, who also was recorded on those tapes, lent a hand by agreeing
to give $25,000 of Brownlee's cash to the attorney as a down payment
and to write a $175,000 check to his law firm. In exchange, federal
prosecutors said, Brownlee gave Martin $100,000 in cash -- with a
promise of paying him back the rest.

Martin put a stop payment on the check to the law firm of attorney
Milton Hirsch and returned the cash to Brownlee after he learned the
feds had seized the football player's bank records.

Money for cars

Federal prosecutors also said Martin took $44,786 from Brownlee to
lease three luxury cars for him -- an Acura Legend and two Mercedes
Benzes.

Martin's defense attorneys, Howard Srebnick and Hy Shapiro, succeeded
in planting enough reasonable doubt in jurors' minds to find Martin
innocent. Their strategy aimed to show that Martin thought Brownlee's
cash came from his possible legitimate businesses, including a
restaurant and convenience store in Opa-locka. Martin had no reason to
believe the cash-for-check swap involved dirty money, they argued.

"Twelve people from the community heard the evidence -- not rumor, nor
hearsay," Srebnick said.

But jurors convicted Brownlee on all five counts of money laundering,
believing the prosecution's case that he was still a drug dealer. As
part of their verdict, they found Brownlee guilty of one count of
conspiring to distribute cocaine and heroin and a second count of drug
trafficking. He was acquitted, however, on four other counts of
distributing drugs.

Martin, visibly relieved over his own acquittal, had little to say
about his friend's conviction. "It hasn't really sunk in," Martin said.

Brownlee plans appeal

Brownlee, 43, told his attorney, Mel Black, that he was going to
appeal his conviction. Because the verdict marks his third conviction,
Brownlee faces a life sentence in prison. His sentencing hearing is
set for Nov. 9.

"He was disappointed that the jury did not see its way clear to accept
his innocence on all counts," Black said. "[But] he's absolutely
thrilled for Tony Martin -- happy that he's able to go on with his
life."

The U.S. Attorney's Office, which relied on a mountain of videotapes,
phone recordings and government snitches for their celebrity case,
declined to comment after the split verdict.

Martin, a notorious spendaholic who filed for bankruptcy earlier this
year, can now look forward to enjoying the rewards of his four-year,
$14.2 million contract with the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins could
have voided his contract if he was convicted.

Back to the beginning

Last spring, he returned to the team with which he started his NFL
career a decade ago. Because he failed to fulfill his promise on the
field, the Dolphins traded him in 1994 to the San Diego Chargers,
where he blossomed into a star receiver. Last year, they dished him to
the Atlanta Falcons, who reached the Super Bowl partly because of
Martin's heroics.

But the Falcons waived Martin after he was indicted on the
money-laundering charges last February. Then the Dolphins signed him
as an unrestricted free agent. His new teammates stood behind him at
his trial -- including testimony on Martin's good character from
veteran quarterback Dan Marino.

Coach Jimmy Johnson, known for giving players second chances,
expressed relief over Martin's verdict at the Dolphins' training
complex in Davie.

"It's good to see that the justice system prevailed," Johnson said.
"Everyone I talked to who knew Tony -- and I knew Tony but not very
well -- everybody said he was a good person. I called the [National
Football] League office to ask about him. And they told me that for 10
years everything was all right with him. It's very hard to find people
to play in this league for 10 years and have empty files."

Martin, who left the federal courthouse with his girlfriend, promised
to get his life in order with the support of his family. He also said
he was looking forward to practice -- and that second chance on the
gridiron.

"Coach might make me run extra laps," Martin said. "But that's OK, I'm
ready for it."