Guard Guilty of Plotting With Henley

LOS ANGELES —  A 30-year-old prison guard was found guilty Thursday of plotting with former Ram cornerback Darryl Henley to assassinate a federal judge and a former cheerleader, a conviction that could send him to prison for the rest of his life.

A federal jury deliberated for three days before finding Rodney Anderson of Los Angeles guilty of eight counts of bribery, conspiracy to traffic in drugs, and to commit murder for hire.

“The jury’s verdicts confirm that Anderson sold out his badge as a correctional officer to try to help [Henley] commit his crimes,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Marc Harris, one of the prosecutors in the case.

Henley and Anderson were among four people who were indicted in June on charges of conspiring to kill both U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor and former cheerleader Tracy Donaho and to set up a $1-million heroin deal.

At the time, Henley, 30, was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles after being convicted of running a cross-country cocaine ring.

Taylor presided over Henley’s cocaine-trafficking trial, at which Donaho was a key witness against the athlete.

During his confinement at the detention center, Henley used a cellular phone provided by Anderson to arrange both the drug deal and two aborted contract killings. Prosecutors said Henley paid Anderson $3,000 a month for use of the cell phone.

Henley, the athlete’s 26-year-old brother, Eric, and a third defendant, who were all arrested in a sting operation, have since pleaded guilty to the drug and murder scheme. They are scheduled to be sentenced in January.

Anderson contended during a three-week trial that he was bullied into joining Henley’s scheme. One of Henley’s associates held a loaded gun to his head and threatened to kill him if he didn’t participate, Anderson said.

Jurors deadlocked or acquitted the prison guard on four related counts. But Assistant U.S. Atty. Luis Li, another prosecutor in the case, said the other guilty verdicts showed that jurors didn’t believe Anderson’s story.

“When a federal officer, someone who who has a great deal of authority, betrays the people’s trust, we find it shocking and take it very seriously,” Li said.