Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Alleged drug dealer names ex-Eagle Buckhalter as client, prosecutor says

A Delaware County prosecutor this morning named former Eagles running back Correll Buckhalter among the reported clients of an alleged drug dealer during opening arguments of a trial.

A Delaware County prosecutor this morning named former Eagles running back Correll Buckhalter among the reported clients of an alleged drug dealer during opening arguments of a trial.

Deputy District Attorney Katayoun M. Copeland, addressing the jury, said that Styles N. Beckles, 36, of Clifton Heights, had told police that he sold drugs to pro athletes, including Buckhalter and Keita Crespina, a former Temple University football player.

No charges have been filed against Buckhalter or Crespina.

Buckhalter, 30, spent eight years with the Eagles before the Denver Broncos signed him to a four-year deal this month.

"Any time you to get some information like this, you have to look at the credibility [of the source]," said John Rickert, Buckhalter's agent. Rickert said he would not comment further at this point.

Crespina could not be reached immediately for comment. He played at Lincoln High School and later in NFL Europe and the Canadian Football League. He served as defensive coordinator at George Washington High School in Philadelphia in the fall,.

Beckles was the subject of a wiretap signed by Superior Court Judge Seamus McCaffrey in December 2005, according to an affidavit. As a result of that investigation, Pennsylvania State Police obtained a search warrant of his apartment, car and person.

When police pulled over Beckles in his silver Toyota Echo, he was found to have 115 glass vials of marijuana, the affidavit said. At his home, police allegedly found 487 glass vials of marijuana buds, digital scales, other drug paraphernalia, and more than $1,300 in cash.

Contact staff writer Mari A. Schaefer at 610-892-9149 or mschaefer@phillynews.com.