WWW- The charges are minor. The details are sordid.
Four Minnesota Vikings players, including injured quarterback Daunte Culpepper, each were slapped with three misdemeanor chargesthis month stemming from an Oct. 6 boat party on Lake Minnetonka.
Authorities detailed a lewd party involving as many as 30 Vikings players, basing the charges on accounts from the crew of two Al & Alma's charter boats. The criminal complaints describe a raucous evening featuring strippers, lap dances and sexual contact.
"There was no shortage of inappropriate behavior on both boats," said Hennepin County Sheriff Pat McGowan.
Culpepper, Bryant McKinnie, Fred Smoot and Moe Williams were charged with indecent conduct, disorderly conduct and lewd or lascivious conduct. They face fines of $1,000 and 90 days in jail on each count, though prosecutors said jail time is unlikely.
Culpepper, McKinnie and Smoot denied the charges. Williams could not be reached for comment.
"I look forward to meeting my accusers in a court of law so they can be confronted with this lie," Culpepper said. "In the end, the truth will come out and I will be vindicated ... I didn't touch anybody and nobody touched me."
Team owner Zygi Wilf, who last month promised tough action against anyone found to have done anything untoward, stayed silent Thursday. A top team official, however, vowed Wilf would not skirt the issue or let National Football League collective-bargaining rules tie his hands.
"Zygi made it very clear early on in this investigation, he will take whatever actions, penalties, suspensions, fines or whatever, based upon what he feels is necessary," said Kevin Warren, the team's vice president of operations and legal counsel. "And if it means it's a standard higher than the NFL, so be it."
When the "Love Boat" episode first broke, tales of photos snapped and erotic evidence seized made for national headlines and Jay Leno jokes. The salacious details dragged down a team already suffering at the time with a 1-3 record.
The case could come down to a he-said, she-said affair. Photos and other possible physical evidence never made it into investigators' hands.
Although the case remains open, and such evidence could still emerge, prosecutors aren't counting on it. Instead, it will be the accounts of the young crew from Al and Alma's Supper Club & Charter Cruises that will have to stand against players' words in court, if, in fact, the case gets that far.
To date, none of the roughly 30 Vikings who were at the party has spoken with investigators, said McGowan, whose office forwarded its findings to Steve Tallen, the prosecuting attorney for the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District, which handles nonfelony cases on the lake just west of Minneapolis.
According to the complaints filed by Tallen's office, Smoot and player Lance Johnstone arranged for the boats, and Johnstone paid for them. The two told the crew that the cruise was part of an annual party put on by rookie team members for the veteran players.
When the boats left the dock between 9 and 9:30 p.m. that night with 90 people aboard, everything seemed normal. But after a short time on the water, some of the women went below deck. They emerged scantily clad, if they were wearing anything at all, the complaints said.
Crew members reported that events quickly got out of hand. The complaints allege Culpepper and Williams received lap dances, McKinnie performed and received oral sex, and Smoot used a sex toy on two women at the same time.
Crew members were shocked, McGowan said.
"They were very scared. They were intimidated. Obviously, they were very offended. As I said, they brought it to our attention," McGowan said during a news conference with Tallen at the sheriff's office water patrol headquarters in Spring Park.
None of the women has been identified, McGowan said. Detectives investigated whether they were prostitutes flown in from other states for the party, but were unable to obtain enough evidence to prove that. McGowan reviewed the case with the Hennepin County attorney's office and with U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger last week.
Smoot denied the charges.
"That upsets me bad, because I didn't do anything on the boat. They just really are trying to put stories on certain guys. I'm going to clear my name when the time is right."
Joe Tamburino, an attorney representing McKinnie, said his client would plead not guilty.
"I will vigorously defend him in court, and we dispute the charges," Tamburino said.
Vikings coach Mike Tice avoided the issue, saying the team has been on edge since word of possible charges came earlier this month.
"Until at any point there is a conviction of any type, if there is, I have no action to take and I have nothing to say," Tice said.
Besides the criminal charges, the players could face discipline from the NFL. According to the league's personal conduct policy, players who engage in criminal activity are subject to counseling, a fine of a week's pay and four weeks' suspension.
Peter Wold, an attorney for Vikings players, said he conducted his own investigation into the boat allegations and found nothing criminal.
"We didn't run across the acts described," he said. "It's kind of curious that the only four players here are the most recognizable."
Wold suggested the crew members who identified the players charged might be aiming to cash in through a lawsuit.
Attorney Stephen Doyle, who represents the charter company, said the crew has not decided whether to file a lawsuit.
"Absolutely nothing has even been considered," Doyle said. "Our focus for the last couple of months has been on trying to protect the crew and the name of Al & Alma's."
Heffelfinger said that none of the evidence constituted a federal offense, though prosecutors looked into the possibility that there might have been a violation of the Mann Act, which makes it a crime to transport individuals across state lines for immoral purposes, such as prostitution.
More misdemeanor charges against other players may follow, McGowan said, but that will depend on someone being able to identify them more than two months after the party took place.
Culpepper, McKinnie, Smoot and Williams were scheduled to make their first appearance on the charges in Hennepin County District Court on Jan. 5. Given the misdemeanor charges, they will not have to have their mug shots taken, officials said.
Here's a quick wrap of the charges being brought against the players:
Daunte Culpepper: Indecent conduct, disorderly conduct, and lewd or lascivious conduct for allegedly getting a lap dance from a naked woman and putting his hands on her naked behind.
Fred Smoot: Indecent conduct, disorderly conduct, and lewd or lascivious conduct for allegedly holding a double-headed dildo and inserting it into the vaginas for two women who were laying on the floor in the lounge area. After one woman left he continued to "manipulate the dildo" inside the other woman in front of the young crew.
Bryant McKinnie: Indecent conduct, disorderly conduct, and lewd or lascivious conduct for allegedly picking up a naked woman, placing her on the bar and performing oral sex on her in front of the crew and other guests. Later that evening McKinnie and three other men were spotted sitting in deck chairs receiving oral sex from four woman, which was also observed by the crew.
And finally, Moe Williams: Indecent conduct, disorderly conduct, and lewd or lascivious conduct for allegedly grabbing the naked breasts of a "dancer" while receiving a lap dance.
