More trouble for Henry

PHOENIX -- Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry’s latest brush with the law won’t help his already shaky chances of avoiding a league-imposed suspension next month.

Henry, 23, of Florence, was given a ticket last Wednesday and had his 2005 Cadillac Escalade impounded after he was ticketed for driving on a suspended license, failure to use turn signals and a seat belt violation.

On Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league’s new personal conduct policy – an attempt to stem the tide of some 40 player arrests in 2006 – will allow him to hand out suspensions to players who are repeat offenders.

Henry was arrested four times between December 2005 and June 2006.

Goodell said some disciplinary hearings already are scheduled for next week in New York. Henry and his former West Virginia college teammate, Titans cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones, are believed to be among the players who will appear.

Goodell said he would suspend players before the draft, April 28-29, to allow affected teams to adjust their draft plans if necessary. It's believed that the suspensions could be as long as one year.

Bengals president Mike Brown had no comment today during a break in the NFL annual meeting at the Arizona Biltmore when told of Henry’s latest legal problem.

Henry was stopped by Cincinnati police at 4:32 p.m. at 1100 Vine St.
Henry appeared in Hamilton County Municipal Court Monday, and his vehicle was released after he posted a $100 bond.

Goodell suspended Henry for two games during the 2006 season, after he was a passenger in the SUV driven by Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman when Thurman was arrested for DUI. Henry was vomiting out of a back window.

Goodell is detailing his plan to owners and other team officials today. He has the support of ownership and the NFL Players Association to act swiftly and sternly. “We’ll be dealing with people who’ve had repeated offenses,” Goodell said Monday. “We’ll be dealing with them pretty harshly.”

Henry’s four arrests since December 2005 are for marijuana possession, concealed weapons, providing alcohol to minor females and DUI.

Without calling Henry by name, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis referred to the troubled wide receiver this morning during the AFC coaches’ breakfast at the annual meeting.

“It's a reaction to one particular player who had a run of bad acts, selfish acts, and I don't think it's a fair image for the entire thing,” Lewis said when asked for reaction to the commissioner’s new policy.

“But anything that goes wrong, any particular breaking of the law, social law, none of it's good. I think, hopefully, we are all looking at the same thing. I think the only thing that affects this is play time. We have to combine a couple of things (playing time, fines). You have to know coming in that the action is going to be quick and it's going to get you."

If Henry is convicted of any crime in Hamilton County, the Kenton County Attorney's Office would seek to revoke his probation in Kentucky, said chief prosecutor Ken Easterling. Henry could have to serve the remaining 88 days on his 90-day sentence.

Henry pleaded guilty Jan. 25 to providing alcohol to minors and spent two days in jail. He also served two hours of community service. Easterling said Henry spoke on March 7 to students at Holmes High School and Two Rivers Middle School, both in Covington, about making the right decisions in life and "focusing on good people."

Easterling said a letter documenting the community service said Henry also apologized. During his sentencing in Kenton County, District Judge Douglas Grothaus called Henry an embarrassment to the city, his teammates and the team's owner.