Henley’s Former Girlfriend Testifies in Drug Case : Courts: Ex-cheerleader says the football player asked her to transport cash, which was really cocaine. He maintains his innocence.

SANTA ANA —  A former Rams cheerleader testified Wednesday that she had been dating star cornerback Darryl Henley about four months when he suggested she might earn some extra money by working for a friend in real estate who needed cash flown to different cities.

Tracy Ann Donaho, taking the witness stand for the first time as a key prosecution witness in the federal drug conspiracy trial against Henley, said she didn’t think much of the idea at first and wondered why she would be paid $300 to $400 to make such a trip.

“It seemed like a lot of money for something simple to do,” she testified.

But two months later, in July, 1993, Donaho was arrested on suspicion of carrying 12 kilograms of cocaine at an Atlanta airport and embroiled in a case that shocked the football world.

Donaho spent much of her time on the witness stand in U.S. District Court testifying about her relationship with Henley--from their first date of getting ice cream and watching television to a lavish trip to Las Vegas, arguments and talks of marriage and children.

“I was very excited that he seemed to be interested in me,” she testified under questioning from Assistant U.S. Atty. John Rayburn.

But Donaho said she was also nervous after their first date in February, 1993. He was 26. She was 19. There were rules against football players dating cheerleaders. It was also the first time either had been involved in an interracial relationship, she testified. Henley is black and Donaho is white.

Still, the two continued seeing each other, even after Henley moved to Atlanta, and shared some good times, she testified.

Henley, considered one of the Rams’ best defensive players, was indicted in December, 1993, on federal charges of cocaine possession and conspiring to operate an illicit drug network from his home in Brea.

Prosecutors charge that Henley, 28, masterminded cross-country shipments of cocaine to Atlanta and Memphis, Tenn., using Donaho, who carried the drugs in her luggage on commercial airlines.

Henley and Donaho were among eight people indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the alleged drug ring. Four of those men are co-defendants with Henley in the trial, all represented by a different attorney.

Henley, who remains free on bail, has vigorously maintained his innocence. His lawyer, in opening statements to the jury last week, said Henley is the victim of an elaborate frame-up by Donaho and her parents.

Attorney Roger Cossack told jurors that Donaho, who pleaded guilty in late 1993 to conspiracy to transport cocaine, cannot be trusted because she is testifying to avoid a prison sentence. Cossack told the jury that Henley is a model citizen who was “shocked” when he learned Donaho had been arrested on suspicion of transporting cocaine.

Prosecutors, however, presented a different portrait of Henley, alleging he seduced Donaho with his celebrity status, expensive trips and money into transporting cocaine. Prosecutors allege Henley paid Donaho more than $1,000 to carry suitcases of what he said was “real estate money,” which actually was cocaine.

If convicted, Henley faces up to life in prison and up to $4 million in fines.

Donaho’s testimony continues this morning.