Even as we talked among ourselves outside the hospital, there was no speculation about drugs. When I hung up, I immediately called the one person I knew who could help me verify the information. They were young. He rarely left before closing and usually with a woman. He told me there was evidence of cocaine in Len Biass body at the hospital. Dave, they just took Len Bias to Leland in cardiac arrest. I heard the words, but Im not sure they registered in my foggy brain. The facts are these: Police say three people were with Bias when he collapsed at about 6:30 a.m. in Washington Hall--basketball players Terry Long and David Gregg, and close friend Brian Lee Tribble. Smialek said, It is not unusual to be unable to restart the heart under such circumstances, and added: If he had had medical attention within four to five minutes, its possible that something might have been done. There was also criticism from inside the news business. Boston selected Bias with the No. Doubts emerge. The death of her two eldest sons left her seeing "nothing but utter darkness," she said last week. They did not make sense then. Unbeknownst to officials, farmers began to breed cobras to skin for bounties. Long, 41, lives in Baltimore. Five days after her son, Len Bias, died, Lonise Bias held up a Boston Celtics jersey presented by the team's president, Red Auerbach. The phone rang around 6:45 a.m. that Thursday morning. Take a special look back at the tragedy and its fallout through coverage . That wont change the fact that black Americans have for years been disproportionately imprisoned compared to white Americans. In order to curb the epidemic, a local governor decided to put a bounty on cobra skins. But this was so startling I didnt know whether to believe him. O'Neill, a canny politician, heard his constituents clamoring about Bias and saw drugs as the path to victory. We were on the air with Beatrice within a few minutes. The state ultimately dropped the perjury charges against Fobbs on March 24, 1987, and a jury acquitted Tribble of all charges related to the Bias case on June 3, 1987. Visit our sponsor Command Fire Apparatus. He worked at two basketball camps and had meetings with a number of NBA team officials. None of which provides the answer to what made a good guy come to such a bad end. [27] The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was signed by President Ronald Reagan on October 27, 1986. Athletic director -- Maryland AD who resigned in September after the death of Bias. Speaking at a news conference, Smialek noted that Bias' heart stopped just minutes after he ingested what might have been his first-ever dose of cocaine; there were no signs that he drank alcohol or consumed other drugs on the night of his death. He was standing near the sidewalk leading to Washington Hall. But I couldnt say he absolutely would have been able to be saved.. Len Bias after being drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA draft. [9] After additional attempts to revive him at Leland Memorial Hospital in Riverdale, Maryland, Bias was pronounced dead at 8:55a.m. of a cardiac arrhythmia related to usage of cocaine. Furthermore, if they are convicted, they are much less likely to be sent to prison. Ed Statter said to himself, I hope Daves right, or he will soon be living back home., It was 10:15 p.m. Mike Buchanan summoned me to his desk near mine in the newsroom. In various ways Buchanan and I asked Beatrice both on and off the air if this was too soon when would be a good time to share the information? Click here- [21], On December 5, 1990, Len's younger brother, Jay Bias, was murdered in a drive-by shooting at age 20. Put simply, a black cocaine user or dealer was far more likely to receive a long sentence than a white one. I would meet it there. Driving from Channel 9 to join Buchanan for a drink at the bar Chadwicks, a few blocks from the station, I learned those same complaints were being voiced very publicly. That was as shocking as the call that woke me six hours earlier. The person calling was a friend I first met a decade earlier when I was a volunteer firefighter and dispatcher in Prince Georges County, Maryland. States Atty. Long and Gregg were both suspended from the team on July 31. I momentarily worried he might have heard a bad firehouse rumor. who was charged with len bias' death. Marshall said Tuesday that the medical examiners finding makes (the investigation) stronger relative to getting a manslaughter charge., Any charge would hinge on who brought the cocaine into the room, Marshall said. In a week he was going to be a millionaire, and he was doing yardwork.. Note: This is an edited and updated account first published on STATter911 for the 30th anniversary of Len Biass death. It speaks for itself., Moore, meanwhile, said Tribble told him after Bias died that the drugs used at the party came from two girls he (Tribble) was holding for.. In this way, the Democrats would be seen as being tough on crime when voters looked to the ballots in November. Len Bias wears a Boston Celtics hat after being selected as the No. It was hard to escape his name if you lived in the Washington area in the early to mid-1980s. "You're not going to stop on the street corner and get that quality," he continued. There are moments when reading the toxic information flow after the sudden passing of one of our stars in their prime that I long, just a little bit, for the time when a reporter could actually piss us off for sharing something too soon., One of the best accounts of the death of Len Bias is titled 1103 Washington Hall. Its a chapter in Michael Weinrebs wonderful book Bigger than the Game. Weinreb earlier had written about Bias for ESPN.com in an article titled The Day Innocence Died.. Instead of just attributing the news to Channel 9, they went a step further: Channel 9s Dave Statter is reporting there was cocaine in Len Biass bloodstream when he died., My late father always listened to WTOP on his drive home from work in Baltimore. It wasnt like today when journalists are constantly criticized and subject to frequent and instant threats via social media. Jon Schuppe is an enterprise reporter for NBC News, based in New York. Aaron Rost died of a drug overdose at the door of the apartment he shared with his fiance, Kimberly Elkins, in Hibbing, Minn. Ruth Fremson/The New York Times. Len Bias was six feet-eight inches tall. Just two days later, at the age of 22, Bias . She wasnt supposed to talk to the news media. It was an unexpected tragedy for the world of basketball, and Bias' autopsy report would reveal several tragic details about the last few hours of the former Terps standout's life. Millions are now unable to hold steady jobs, maintain housing, keep their families together or vote. [26], A few weeks after Bias' death, committees in the United States House of Representatives began writing anti-drug legislation. UPPER MARLBORO, Md. "Leonard Bias died of cocaine intoxication. The anger now is often about news coverage not supporting a specific political agenda. We had seen the wave of grief moments earlier outside the emergency department as Biass teammates and friends were told. Was part of a 1990 arson ring involving 10 firefighters. Who can help student-athletes cash in? They were critical of the way Channel 9 covered the Bias story. He leased a Nissan 300ZX sports car, paid insurance on the car, obtained two $1-million disability insurance policies, bought several new suits and a stereo worth between $500 and $600, and even paid some veterinarian bills for Ebony. Tribble had been with Bias the morning Bias collapsed. There was also malt liquor and cognac on the table, Long said. Mike helped start the careers of many young television journalists, including Connie Chung. They also include Curry, who joined Families Against Mandatory Minimums and speaks publicly about his experience. Marshall said Monday that 15 to 30 minutes might have elapsed between Bias collapse and the time an ambulance was called. Channel 9s morning assignment editor Doug Edwards was the next person to hear my voice. [12] All attempts by the emergency medical team to restart his heart and breathing were unsuccessful. He thought we were irresponsible for reporting the cocaine use. Smialek said there were no indications that Bias had used alcohol or taken any other drug in the hours preceding his collapse in his Washington Hall dormitory suite on the College Park campus. But it has come at a steep cost. My friend had never steered me wrong with his news tips. Once the scheme was discovered, the bounty program was cancelled. He had picked up a reputation in high school, however, for having an attitude. Hed whine about foul calls he didnt like and was accused of quick retaliation. I thought I knew him.. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The date, June 19, is good enough, and no matter how far the date is removed from the morning that Len Bias died, the wound seems to never close and the pain never seems to ease. The sentences rose to 10 years with 50 grams of crack and 5,000 grams of powder. Mike was a 1981 Maryland graduate. During his four years playing for Maryland, he was named a first-team All-American. He said he later cleaned the room up on his own. He later told me his reaction. IE 11 is not supported. No committee analyzed its key provisions, or held hearings, according to a later analysis by the U.S. [20] All three defendants entered not guilty pleas in August. He had no criminal record, but mandatory minimums forced a judge to sentence him to more than 19 years in prison. Sterling was a lawyer for the House Judiciary Committee when Leonard Kevin "Len" Bias, an All-American forward at the University of Maryland, died on June 19, 1986, two days after being drafted by the NBA champion Boston Celtics. If he was going to do something to harm himself or embarrass himself, hed stop and think about it.. AP. The story provided great detail on what happened inside Washington Hall in the hours before Bias died. They werent alone. T. "Len Bias is dead.". The newsroom phones rang constantly from 5:00 p.m. until after 2:00 the next morning. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. I think my words were something like, Really Buck? While I may have been a little skeptical a reporter was able to gather so much inside information this early, Buchanan was confident. On Sunday, the 30th anniversary of Len's death, Lonise Bias will gather her two remaining children and her five grandchildren in Maryland and celebrate what she has, rather than what she's lost. On June 24, 1986, five days after Len Bias' death, Maryland chief medical examiner Dr. John E. Smialek announced that per the Boston Celtics draftee's autopsy, he died of cocaine intoxication, "which interrupted the normal electrical control of his heartbeat, resulting in the sudden onset of seizures . Since the Len Bias laws took effect, racial differences in drug-related sentencing have become even more apparent. https://t.co/3VU4ZrX979, The death of Len Bias: When the truth came too quickly, Social Media, Reputation Management, News Media, in an article titled The Day Innocence Died., Lenny, Lefty, and the Chancellor: The Len Bias Tragedy and the Search for Reform in Big-Time College Basketball. ometimes solutions can have drastic unintended consequences. The length of the body under the sheet was hard to ignore. "It was a point where hysteria dominated over evidence and it was really the catalyst for a lot of the prison problems we are tryingto reform today.". A rumor, spread in the press, said he'd died smoking crack, a cheap form of cocaine that was being blamed for increasing crime and all sorts of social ills. Testimony by Moore and Long came one day after prosecutors said Bias was a courtesy middleman who gave away drugs to classmates in a distribution network run by Tribble. Its where firefighters and medics found Bias in cardiac arrest. But at that moment they werent focusing on Len Biass career or the tragedy of his death. Still, the accuracy of Buchanans scoop or my initial report didnt matter to the hundreds of people calling to complain. It turned out to be one of most significant calls of the day. Linda Hash answered. She remembers numerous phone conversations between Bias and Tribble. If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. In 1985, the year before the Anti-Drug Abuse Act passed, there were about 35,000 people in federal prison, 9,500 of whom were in on drug charges, according to federal data analyzed by The Sentencing Project. While I had returned to the Maryland campus for a few hours, Mike never left his desk after the early newscasts. However, that didn't prevent the doctors responsible for Lewis' autopsy from alleging to the Wall Street Journal (via The Seattle Times) that cocaine might have been responsible for the heart damage that eventually killed the Celtics ace. Until we know that, everything is speculation. All news WTOP Radio, where I had worked for almost four years, picked up our story minutes later. I can take it.. BRIAN LEE TRIBBLE On July 28, 1986, Brian Lee Tribble surrendered after being indicted on drug charges related to Len Bias' death. The Prince . At first, I thought JB was just walking off the shock of the news. The commission found that lawmakers were driven by the belief that drugs had become an "epidemic," with crack at the forefront. The Sentencing Commission has loosened some of its guidelines tied to mandatory minimum laws, allowing thousands of nonviolent, low-level drug offenders to leave prison early. University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias died of "cocaine intoxication" after ingesting an unusually pure dose of the drug that stopped his heart within minutes, Maryland's chief medical . Outside the emergency room were a number of extremely tall men. According to Bias oldest and closest friends, as well as family, he remained a relatively clean-living, born-again Christian. Chilling. It only takes four to five minutes for irreversible brain damage to occur, Smialek said. . Buchanan briefed Pearce on his conversations with PGPD detectives. People would call up and say, Do you know Len Bias is out here watering the lawn? Brown said. She said she used the drug about twice as many times with Long and Gregg. That comes too easy, Brown remembered Bias saying. As late as the end of May, he made arrangements with an academic counselor to get help on a paper due in summer school. He had always passed both the university's and the NBA's stringent drug tests, but in the early hours of June 19, 1986, he made the fatal decision to ingest a line of cocaine. The new law established mandatory minimum drug sentences, provisions that exacerbated racial disparities, led to an explosion in prison populations and helped lay the groundwork for grievances that erupted in anti-police riots in Baltimore last year and in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. Those effects are now fueling a bipartisan reform effort. [3], From Landover, Maryland, Bias graduated from Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. Emma Lorenz. Because I didnt want to call her Mary if her name was Sara.. They were angry at those who dared to speak the truth, so soon. Curry said last week that the anniversary of Bias' death and the reminder of what it wrought stirred up all sorts of regrets and what-ifs. Who Is Responsible? 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