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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 ex-deputy, Brandon Licciardi, 29, shared his remembrance of Bush with authorities in an interview last year at Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro?s office.
It was Licciardi?s second visit with Orleans Parish investigators, who quizzed him over a Sept. 23, 2013, incident in which prosecutors now say Sharper and an accomplice, Erik Nunez, both raped a member of the Saints? cheerleading squad, the Saintsations, and another woman at Sharper?s condo on Tchoupitoulas Street.
A federal indictment in December alleges that Licciardi and Sharper conspired to drug the cheerleader with Ambien in a plan for rape.
In the interview, a week before Mardi Gras, Licciardi first denied, and then ultimately admitted that he was aware that Sharper had a penchant for drugging women.
He continued to deny any knowledge of rapes, though he said he was troubled by what he saw when he dropped in on Sharper?s condo that night to check on the Saintsation, an acquaintance of his.
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 D.A.?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 of 2011, was shortly before the Saints traded Bush away 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 a lawyer 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.
Investigators with New Orleans police and Cannizzaro?s office clearly didn?t believe at least some of what Licciardi told them over the course of at least two interviews early last year, transcripts of which were obtained by The New Orleans Advocate. And Licciardi admitted telling some falsehoods.
After he first spoke with a New Orleans sex crimes detective, Licciardi and his attorney at the time, Pat Fanning, sat down with investigators at Cannizzaro?s office on January 30, 2014.
Licciardi insisted he was being fully cooperative and expressed shock over the mounting allegations against Sharper, whom the deputy said he had befriended after working a security detail at a Bourbon Street bar.
By the time of the second interview about a month later, authorities had accused Sharper of drugging and raping at least seven women in four states. Licciardi revised his earlier statements, admitting he had previously left out key facts and acknowledging he had been deceptive both in the January interview and with police.
He had also turned over a cell phone he earlier said he no longer possessed. Investigators prodded Licciardi over several text messages found in the phone from Sharper.
One of those texts referred to Sharper?s use of the term ?beating,? which Licciardi said meant having sex. Investigators also asked about a reference to ?potion,? a term Licciardi said he didn?t recall Sharper using.
?No, not potion,? he said. ?We said mollywop.?
Licciardi later said he thought Sharper had used that term ? urban slang for a hard punch to a woman ? in reference to a woman who ?was f***ed up drunk or f***ed 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://theadvocate.com/news/neworleans/neworleansnews/11531422-123/former-saints-player-reggie-bush
The ex-deputy, Brandon Licciardi, 29, shared his remembrance of Bush with authorities in an interview last year at Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro?s office.
It was Licciardi?s second visit with Orleans Parish investigators, who quizzed him over a Sept. 23, 2013, incident in which prosecutors now say Sharper and an accomplice, Erik Nunez, both raped a member of the Saints? cheerleading squad, the Saintsations, and another woman at Sharper?s condo on Tchoupitoulas Street.
A federal indictment in December alleges that Licciardi and Sharper conspired to drug the cheerleader with Ambien in a plan for rape.
In the interview, a week before Mardi Gras, Licciardi first denied, and then ultimately admitted that he was aware that Sharper had a penchant for drugging women.
He continued to deny any knowledge of rapes, though he said he was troubled by what he saw when he dropped in on Sharper?s condo that night to check on the Saintsation, an acquaintance of his.
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 D.A.?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 of 2011, was shortly before the Saints traded Bush away 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 a lawyer 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.
Investigators with New Orleans police and Cannizzaro?s office clearly didn?t believe at least some of what Licciardi told them over the course of at least two interviews early last year, transcripts of which were obtained by The New Orleans Advocate. And Licciardi admitted telling some falsehoods.
After he first spoke with a New Orleans sex crimes detective, Licciardi and his attorney at the time, Pat Fanning, sat down with investigators at Cannizzaro?s office on January 30, 2014.
Licciardi insisted he was being fully cooperative and expressed shock over the mounting allegations against Sharper, whom the deputy said he had befriended after working a security detail at a Bourbon Street bar.
By the time of the second interview about a month later, authorities had accused Sharper of drugging and raping at least seven women in four states. Licciardi revised his earlier statements, admitting he had previously left out key facts and acknowledging he had been deceptive both in the January interview and with police.
He had also turned over a cell phone he earlier said he no longer possessed. Investigators prodded Licciardi over several text messages found in the phone from Sharper.
One of those texts referred to Sharper?s use of the term ?beating,? which Licciardi said meant having sex. Investigators also asked about a reference to ?potion,? a term Licciardi said he didn?t recall Sharper using.
?No, not potion,? he said. ?We said mollywop.?
Licciardi later said he thought Sharper had used that term ? urban slang for a hard punch to a woman ? in reference to a woman who ?was f***ed up drunk or f***ed 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://theadvocate.com/news/neworleans/neworleansnews/11531422-123/former-saints-player-reggie-bush
