Bombers Scandal 2003

Sports Illustrated, the nation's most widely circulated sports magazine, reported that the 26-year-old Middlebrooks had sex with two women in his Crowne Plaza Hotel room the night of April 16. The magazine quoted one of the women, who was unidentified, as saying they engaged "in some pretty aggressive sex."

The woman told the magazine that at one point, to add levity, she and her female companion "started screaming `Blue Bombers!' and he was yelling back, `Bombs Away, Bombs Away!'"

Middlebrooks said Tuesday night he has maintained all along that he did not have sex with anyone in his room that night. He admitted that on the night in question he was highly intoxicated and passed out in the wee hours of the morning. He said he awakened, fully clothed, to find a woman in his room. He said he doesn't remember having a woman, or more than one woman, in his room the night before.

A source said Tuesday that Middlebrooks gave the same account to Bomber officials, who accepted his version and did not investigate independently.

His denial that sex took place is backed up by Jennifer Eaton, who told The Birmingham News on Tuesday that she was one of three women in Middlebrooks' hotel room that night. She also denied that any sex took place.

Eaton, a 30-year-old native of Hartselle, said she felt compelled to come forward after learning about the Sports Illustrated article. She said the unidentified woman quoted in the article about the events in the hotel room was not there that evening and is "trying to make a fortune off her lie."

Eaton acknowledged that she and two other women were in Middlebrooks' room all night long, but only dancing and "carrying on" took place.

"Please tell Coach Casey that I'm so sorry if I was any way involved in getting him in trouble," she sobbed.

Eaton, who used to be a part-time topless dancer at Arety's Angels in Pensacola, said she was visiting the night of April 16 when Casey came in. She said she is a huge Blue Bomber fan and was thrilled to find him there. She also said she was depressed after learning earlier that day that a medical condition had worsened and breaking up with her boyfriend. She said Casey listened to her problems.

"He was so compassionate," she said. "He made me feel good. He was a celebrity to me."

Eaton said she accepted an offer to return with him to his hotel for a party after leaving the club about midnight.

"He was very respectful," she said. "He was joking around. I think he was just a man wanting some company. I think pretty girls make him feel good. He made me feel good. Is that wrong?"

Eaton said two more women whom she did not know later knocked on the door and entered. She said it was her impression that the women were dancers but not at Arety's Angels. She said she was unsure how the women found their way to Middlebrooks' room.

After a night of talking and fully clothed dancing, Eaton said, Casey told the three women to order breakfast from room service. After he left for his pro-am golf tournament, Eaton said, one of the other women placed a huge order of about $1,000. Worried about the expensive order, Eaton said she departed.

The News reported on May 1 that Middlebrooks visited Arety's Angels on April 16 and bought drinks and private dances for himself. He also bought drinks for dancers.

Owner Arety Kapetanis later told The News that Middlebrooks actually visited Arety's Angels twice once in the afternoon and again at night.

One of the dancers, with the stage name Destiny, told The News on April 30 that Price was a "gentleman" when she danced for him and did nothing improper. In later interviews, though, she said he tried to touch her breasts and her buttocks and was told that was against the rules. She said he also kissed and fondled her while she was serving him as a waitress.

The dancer told The News that Price tipped her $60 and "said I was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He said he had a room at the Crowne Plaza and asked me to meet with him there later that night ... He said they were having a party and there would be party favors."

The dancer said Middlebrooks spent two hours in the club and was "highly intoxicated."

Casey said he doesn't believe he groped any women at the lounge but that he was "too drunk to really know."

Heninger said Casey told him "he had so much to drink that he can't really say what happened that night."

In the April 30 interview with The News, the dancer said her real name is Destiny Stahl and that she is a native of Brewton. Sources say her real name is Lori Boudreaux, a native of New Orleans. Kapetanis confirmed that the dancer's name is indeed not Destiny Stahl, but she refused to reveal her real name, citing her business' policy of not giving out information that might allow customers to locate the dancers outside the club.

Kapetanis said she has learned that Stahl is the maiden name of the dancer's mother. She said that the dancer's claims that she is 36, married and a mother appear to be accurate.

Pensacola police said the woman does not have a dancer's permit as required by Pensacola law, but could not find any evidence of any criminal trouble.

Boudreaux told The News on Tuesday that she hopes to sell her story to Playboy magazine.


Joey Boudreaux, the dancer's husband, said he was fired from his job at a muffler company Tuesday because the establishment "didn't like their name being associated with all this."