Henley Described Arrest of ‘Connection,’ Witness Says : Trial: Alejandro F. Cuevas, who has pleaded guilty to extortion in the case, testifies that the Rams cornerback said delay in debt payment was due to a drug bust.

SANTA ANA —  A witness testified Thursday that Rams cornerback Darryl Henley said he needed more time to pay a $360,000 debt from an alleged failed drug deal because his “connection had gotten busted” and he was being watched by the “feds.”

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The testimony from Alejandro Figueroa Cuevas came as federal prosecutors continued to press allegations of drug trafficking against Henley and four other men--allegations the defendants have aggressively denied.

Cuevas, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion in the case, testified that Henley promised he’d start paying the money back once he signed a new contract with the Rams.

Despite the promise, Cuevas said the meeting with Henley outside Rams Park in September, 1993, ended badly when co-defendant Ralph Bustamante threatened to kill Henley’s mother and stole the football player’s Lexus.

Cuevas admitted that he, at the direction of Bustamante, later made calls to Henley’s father demanding money and threatening the younger Henley’s life.

Cuevas, who is in custody, said his testimony in the trial comes as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors and that he hopes his cooperation will result in a lighter sentence. He testified that Bustamante, a friend, told him the debt was over cocaine only after he had been arrested that September.

Cuevas, 31, will be back on the stand today to answer questions from defense attorneys.

Henley, 28, considered one of the Rams best defensive players, was indicted in December, 1993, on charges of conspiring to operate an illicit drug network from his Brea home.

Cuevas is the second person who has pleaded guilty in the case to testify against the defendants on behalf of the government.

Earlier in the trial, former Rams cheerleader Tracy Ann Donaho testified that Henley offered her money to carry suitcases of real estate cash to Memphis and Atlanta. She was arrested in July, 1993, at the Atlanta airport carrying a suitcase loaded with 12 kilos of cocaine, and later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport cocaine.

Prosecutors have said that the $360,000 debt stemmed from the seizure of the cocaine by federal agents in Atlanta.

But Henley’s attorneys have said he is being framed by defendants such as Donaho who they allege will say anything to win lighter prison sentences. Henley’s attorneys have said that he is merely friends with his co-defendants and never participated in a drug conspiracy.