Man in Phillips Drug Sales Case Released

An Orange County Superior Court judge has dismissed a drug sales charge against a man accused of selling rock cocaine to former Anaheim Angels outfielder Tony Phillips.

Judge Dennis S. Choate dismissed the charge against Daryl Allen Smith, 41, after police lost a taped interview and failed to disclose that they had paid an exotic dancer who worked as an informant.

Instead, Smith pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of drugs, was sentenced to time served and was released.

The case against Philips and Smith was based on the exotic dancer’s statement that she was a go-between for them in a sale of $30 in rock cocaine at an Anaheim hotel.

Police investigators said that in August 1997 they entered a room at the Ivanhoe Motel in Anaheim shortly after midnight and found Phillips with a loaded pipe in one hand and a lighter in the other.

The dancer told investigators she had sold drugs to Phillips on at least one previous occasion.

Phillips pleaded guilty in November to drug possession and entered a rehabilitation program. He now plays for the New York Mets.