Defendant in Sharper Case Accuses Reggie Bush of Spiking Drinks

[Daytona Fin]

A former St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputy who has been charged with helping former Saints safety Darren Sharper drug women to prime them for rape told investigators that a few years earlier, he saw former Saints running back Reggie Bush drop Ecstasy into Champagne glasses and hand out the illicit party drug to women on a nearby dance floor at a Las Vegas club.

The interviewers dug further, asking whether he had seen or heard of other women being drugged.

Licciardi recalled running into Bush in the VIP area of a dance venue in Las Vegas. Bush recognized Licciardi as a friend of Sharper, he said.

“OK, um, I was in Vegas about three years ago and um, Reggie Bush put Molly in Champagne. He was handing out Molly on the dance floor to girls. Handing it out. Like giving it to them,” Licciardi said.

“And how do you know that?” asked James O’Hern, an investigator for the DA’s Office.

“ ’Cause I saw it with my own eyes,” Licciardi responded.

“Molly” is a common name for MDMA, the active ingredient in the euphoria-inducing party drug Ecstasy. The time frame that Licciardi recalled, spring 2011, was shortly before the Saints traded Bush to the Miami Dolphins that July.

Later in the interview, Licciardi backpedaled when asked again about the Las Vegas party.

“Reggie, yeah. No, I didn’t see him put it in the drink. He told me. And he said he was handing it to people, in Vegas,” Licciardi said, adding, “He asked me if I wanted some. And I was like, ‘I don’t do that stuff.’ ”

It was unclear from the interview whether Licciardi believed the women at the Las Vegas club were aware the drug was being dropped in their drinks.

Authorities have not accused Bush of drugging or raping anyone.

Neither an agent for Bush nor an attorney for Licciardi immediately responded to requests for comment. A text message to a phone number that records said was associated with Bush wasn’t immediately returned.

Licciardi later said he thought Sharper had used that term — urban slang for a hard punch to a woman — in reference to a woman “drunk or f----- up, she was messed up.”

Licciardi’s claim about the Las Vegas episode involving Bush, now a Detroit Lions player, came up at a December federal court hearing in New Orleans, but Bush’s name did not. The lead FBI agent on the case, Robert Blythe, was asked whether the government was looking into it.

Blythe replied: “If given time, I intend to look further into those allegations.” Later, he added, “There could be investigations going forward. There’s not currently, but there could be going forward, related to the other persons involved in that incident.”

Blythe also testified that Licciardi had told authorities about a night of partying during which a football player had warned him to avoid drinking from a number of glasses of Champagne that had been laced with a substance. The player referred to the concoction as “horny juice.”

http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/crime/11531422-172/former-saints-player-reggie-bush

Dave Birkett ‏@davebirkett
Talked to Reggie Bush's attorney. She said "Reggie adamently, vehemently and unequivocally denies all of the statements in that article"

 

[Daytona Fin]

Reggie Bush@ReggieBush
I 100 percent intend to take legal action against The Advocate if they do not retract their LIE-FILLED article. Shame on you!

Bart Hubbuch ‏@BartHubbuch
Uh, Reggie, it's not libelous to quote from police transcripts. Your attorney is a moron.

 

[AL R]

:sidelol:

 

[J. David Wannyheimer]

Well, if the guy is just making it up and Reggie never did this, I certainly can't blame him for being really, really upset and maybe a bit irrational about it.

On the flip side, if there's any truth to this, yikes.