Criminal Defense Attorney Richard Roper: Arrest of NFL Receiver Sam Hurd Part of a Larger Drug Probe

The Dec. 14 arrest of former Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears receiver Sam Hurd is just part of a larger investigation into an alleged drug distribution network, said former federal criminal prosecutor Richard B. Roper, who is now a criminal defense attorney in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight. "No doubt there will be other efforts by law enforcement to obtain additional evidence," Roper tells FOX4 anchor Steve Eager. Among the actions agents might take is searching his house, obtaining his cell phone records or his computer files. "They can trace funds out of bank accounts. They can search hard drives and find names and locations of individuals and follow the leads," Roper says. Media reports indicate that police investigations into Hurd's attempt to buy large amounts of cocaine and marijuana began in July 2011, when he was still a member of the Dallas Cowboys, and concluded when he personally met with an undercover agent Dec. 14 at Morton's The Steakhouse in Rosemont, a Chicago suburb. At that meeting, Hurd allegedly told an informant that he wanted to buy "five to 10 kilograms of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week for distribution in the Chicago area," according to the complaint. "It's a lot of drugs," Roper tells Eager. "He was allegedly buying multi-kilogram amounts of cocaine on the streets. A drug dealer who buys wholesale quantities like that will cut cocaine three to four times, to make even more money" said Roper, who used to prosecute such cases. "When you get that much cocaine, you've got to move it on the streets in small quantities, and that takes an operation to do that." Roper focuses his litigation practice on white-collar criminal defense, government investigations, SEC enforcement, and commercial litigation. His practice also involves directing internal corporate investigations and representation in qui tam litigation, antitrust matters, and complex immigration matters. Prior to joining Thompson & Knight, he served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, leading an office of 93 attorneys covering 100 counties, including the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, in criminal and civil affirmative and defensive matters. During his career, he has personally prosecuted more than 150 jury trials involving a broad range of matters from major white-collar crime (including securities, tax, bank, and health care fraud), to narcotics and money laundering matters, to capital murder. For more information about Richard Roper and Thompson & Knight, visit Roper's professional website at http://www.tklaw.com/attorneys.cfm?action=view&id=100022 .

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• Criminal defense attorney
• Richard Roper
• White Collar Crime
• White Collar Criminal Defense
• Thompson & Knight
• National Football League
• Nfl
• Sam Hurd arrest
• Police