The Associated Press
BOSTON – A starting lineman for the New England Patriots worked as an informant for federal drug agents after he was arrested in New York on a charge of carrying the powerful painkiller oxycodone without a prescription, according to a lawyer for the suspected supplier.
The player, Nicholas Kaczur, 28, wore a wire to help the agents build a case against his suspected supplier, Daniel Ekasala, according to Ekasala’s lawyer.
A Drug Enforcement Administration agent said in an affidavit that a cooperating witness – whose name was not revealed in the document – wore a recording device during three drug buys last month. In each of the deals, the witness bought 100 OxyContin pills from Ekasala for $3,900 in cash, the agent wrote. The lawyer, Bernard Grossberg, said Kaczur was the cooperating witness.
But Kaczur denied to The Boston Globe that he had participated in the investigation, saying, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, bro.”
Kaczur has an unlisted telephone number and could not be reached for comment Wednesday. His agent, Vance Malinovic, did not return messages.
Stacey James, a spokesman for the Patriots, would not comment on Kaczur. James referred questions to the federal prosecutor’s office, which declined to comment.
Kaczur started 15 games last year at right tackle. Originally from Brantford, Ontario, Kazcur was drafted by the Patriots in 2005 and has started 35 games over 3 seasons.
Kaczur missed the team’s final regular season game on Dec. 29 with a foot injury. He also was out for several games early in the 2006 season because of a shoulder injury.
Ekasala, 34, was indicted on Tuesday and remains free on an unsecured bond of $10,000. He pleaded not guilty on Wednesday in U.S. District Court to three counts of possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute.
Ekasala was arrested on May 13 after meeting the witness in a supermarket parking lot in Sharon and selling him 100 pills, according to the drug agency affidavit.
Kaczur told the drug agency that he began buying OxyContin in November, getting 100 pills every few days, Grossberg said. The lawyer said he believed that Kaczur had inflated the quantity he bought to “increase his importance or usability to the DEA.”