Posted on 12/15/2005 10:34:49 AM PST by mainepatsfan
Four Vikings charged with party boat misdemeanors Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS -- Quarterback Daunte Culpepper and three other Minnesota Vikings were charged Thursday with three misdemeanors each for taking part in a bawdy boat party earlier this season on Lake Minnetonka.
Culpepper, Bryant McKinnie, Fred Smoot and Moe Williams were charged with indecent conduct, disorderly conduct and lewd or lascivious conduct, according to court papers.
Prosecutor Steve Tallen's decision was based on findings by the Hennepin County sheriff's office, whose investigators reviewed allegations of lewd and drunken behavior aboard a floating party Oct. 6 that involved some Vikings players.
Crew members complained that some people took off their clothes and engaged in public sex acts during the cruise, according to Stephen Doyle, an attorney representing the boat owners, Al & Alma's Supper Club and Charter Cruises in Mound. The crew members identified 17 Vikings among about 90 people on the two boats.
Doyle had said Smoot paid for one of the cruises. Smoot responded by threatening to sue whoever ``put my name in there.''
Reports that some women at the party were paid to come from Minnesota had raised the possibility of federal charges, but U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger said Thursday that no such charges would be brought. Heffelfinger cited insufficient evidence.
That decision, along with sheriff's decision to send the case to Tallen's office, meant any charges would be minor. Tallen is the prosecuting attorney for the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District, which handles nonfelony crimes committed on the big lake just west of Minneapolis.
The boat scandal hit the Vikings when they were already reeling, off to a 1-3 start, and made them the object of national ridicule on late-night TV and cable sports channels. New owner Zygi Wilf, who had been seeking state help for a new stadium, responded forcefully, apologizing to Gov. Tim Pawlenty and other state officials and instituting a new code of conduct.
The team has since recovered on the field and, with quarterback Brad Johnson replacing the injured Culpepper, reeled off six straight wins to become a playoff contender at 8-5.
Two are on injured reserve. So not too much of an impact I would think.
This is going to be quite interesting for the team's immediate future and beyond.
Will this be a distraction and steal their winning-streak mojo?
Will the new owner come down hard on the guilty ones as he said he would?
Is that it for Daunte in the Twin Cities?
I'll be very impressed with the new owner if he truly cleans house.
It hasn't done them too much harm so far.
Hey, did you make it to the end of WEEI's show last night with the guy who supposedly was hunkered down until he got a full-time gig?
I'm talking about NOW with the other shoe dropping. Of course the media is going to be all over it and all of those questions are going to come up again. Football was the main focus the past few weeks. Not now. At least not for the media.
Not till the end but the programming director did call and give him them job. What'll be interesting today is to see how the afternoon host reacts. It was him who Adams locked the door on.
I'm surprised Mewelde Moore's name isn't on the list after the big hullabaloo about his throwing out the trash.
Now, I wonder what that means. Some people got nekkid and had sex with each other. Some people got nekkid and had sex with the public. Or what?
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