$100,000 bond for ex-Bear Hurd
Former Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd was freed Friday on $100,000 bail after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Young Kim in Chicago.
The attorney representing Hurd confirmed to the Associated Press that Hurd was released from the federal lockup.
The 26-year-old NFL veteran, who had been in custody since his arrest Wednesday on drug charges, appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit with his ankles shackled. He has charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine in what federal authorities described as a $700,000-a-week drug ring.
The Bears also waived Hurd on Friday.
Hurd had negotiated with a Homeland Security Investigations agent for the purchase of up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of cocaine and 1,000 pounds of marijuana per week, at a price of $25,000 per kilogram of cocaine and $450 per pound of marijuana, according to a court filing. Those figures mean Hurd would have been willing to pay as much as $700,000 a week for the drugs.
Hurd’s defense attorney, Brett Greenfield, said Friday that Hurd had never sold drugs to other NFL players, hoping to put any rumors to rest as the player prepares to fight the federal drug charges.
Hurd had been under investigation since July and was arrested outside Morton’s Steakhouse in Rosemont after accepting a kilogram of cocaine from an undercover agent, according to an affidavit filed with the court by George Ramirez, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations.
Hurd was charged in a criminal complaint filed Thursday in Dallas with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a cocaine mixture. If convicted, he faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years in federal prison. The case now moves to the federal courts in Dallas.
Hurd told the agent that he already was distributing four kilograms of cocaine weekly and that his supplier couldn’t keep up with the demand from his customers, according to the court document.
At Friday’s hearing Friday, the judge also ordered Hurd to surrender his passport and any firearms.
Reports from Bloomberg News and The Associated Press were used to compile this story.