In a sport when many players aspire to be the next Joe Montana, Sam Hurd allegedly hoped to be the next Tony Montana. And now the police are rounding up one of the folks who allegedly helped Hurd in his quest to become a drug kingpin -- as he continued to sell drugs, apparently without Hurd’s involvement.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, the ongoing investigation has resulted in the arrest of Hurd’s cousin. Jesse Tyrone Chavful, 46, faces charges of conspiracy for acting as an intermediary for Hurd, along with charges of recently attempting to make a significant purchase of drugs that would have been resold.
The Dallas Morning News has posted a copy of the criminal complaint. Though the details are at times confusing (to say the least), Chavful was arrested after allegedly receiving five kilograms of cocaine and 250 pounds of marijuana from an undercover agent on June 6. Though Hurd’s name came up in the discussions preceding the purchase, there is no allegation or suggestion that Hurd was involved in any transactions since Hurd was arrested in December outside a Chicago-area steakhouse after receiving a kilogram of cocaine from an informant and an undercover officer.
The details of Hurd’s actual and anticipated network of drug sales seemed to be grossly exaggerated, likely an effort by Hurd to persuade the folks with which he was dealing of his legitimacy. Hurd’s lawyer seems to agree. “I just think the evidence ultimately is going to show that Sam Hurd is being mischaracterized,” attorney Michael McCrum said, via the Express-News. “He’s not a big drug trafficker like they’re making him out to be.”
Though it’s Hurd who allegedly made himself out to be a major drug trafficker, the point is taken. Hurd talked a much bigger game than he was capable of playing. Still, Chavful apparently was, both before and after Hurd’s arrest, involved in buying and selling drugs, with or without Hurd’s involvement.
Though any exaggeration regarding Hurd’s actual activities won’t change the fact that Hurd apparently bought a kilogram of cocaine with the intent to sell it off to others, it doesn’t make him the mastermind of a major network of retail drug distribution.
His trial is set to begin on August 6. Barring another continuance (the trial originally was slated to commence on April 2), we’ll begin to find out the day after the Hall of Fame game whether and to what extent Hurd was contending for a spot in the Drug Lord Hall of Fame.