Youth counselors arrested on drug trafficking were close to several Tampa football stars

Posted Jul 17, 2009 by Nick Williams

Updated Jul 17, 2009 at 10:13 AM

Youth counselors Romey Battle and Michael Brown, who mentored dozens of standout football prospects like former Chamberlain defensive lineman Brodrick Bunkley (now with Philadelphia Eagles), Robinson High athlete Javier Arenas (now at Alabama), former Middleton Division I recruits O.J. and Sherod Murdock, and most recently Florida State rising sophomores Moses McCray (Hillsborough) and Rhonne Sanderson (Plant), turned themselves in to Tampa Police on Wednesday, accused of trafficking in cocaine in East Tampa after a three-month police investigation.

According to a story written in today’s Tribune, police say they seized 167 grams of cocaine, 83 grams of crack cocaine, $1,800 in cash and two vehicles.

Battle is the program director of the center for Urban Programs and Services. Brown also works in the department as a youth counselor. Both men remained in Orient Road Jail on Thursday on a $25,000 bond.

Tampa Police spokesperson Laura McElroy said Battle and Brown told detectives they were selling narcotics to fund a program for disadvantaged kids in East Tampa neighborhoods.

On Saturday, both men were at the University of South Florida’s Fowler Field for the Hometown Heroes Youth Football Clinic, an event they organized through the Center for Urban Programs & Services and Goal Line Sports Foundation, which saw nearly 300 kids working with former high school football stars from Tampa. Battle and Brown were seen socializing with parents, children and nearly a dozen football players, which included former Tampa Bay Bucs receiver Reidel Anthony, New York Giants rookie and former Middleton High star Stoney Woodson, Arenas and O.J. Murdock.

During the clinic, Battle told the Tribune “We did this so kids and the parents could experience something like this. We have to do this to get more parents and the community involved. With these economic times, this was free. Everything now is about a dollar.”

You can read more on the arrests here