JaMarcus Russell Lawyers Up

​Former Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell, busted last week for allegedly stocking up on codeine, has hired a blue-chip lawyer to handle his "purple drank" case. And attorney Donald Briskman talks a good game.

"I think at the end of the day, JaMarcus is going to be acquitted and will go on about the business of getting on with his career," the lawyer told the Mobile Press-Register.

Despite the presence of many people at Russell's Alabama home, Briskman said, Alabama police zoned in on the former QB just like he was unable to do with his wide receivers. While law-enforcement officials claim Russell was nailed in a months-long narcotics sting and not a "Let's-get-JaMarcus" affair, Russell's hired gun sees things differently."Of course he was targeted," says the lawyer.

Russell's alleged crime -- the possession of one bottle of codeine without a prescription -- could carry a 10-year prison sentence. The arrest shifted the odds of his latching on with another NFL team this season from "slim" to "Powerball-like."

Russell was released by the Oakland Raiders in May after three horrific seasons (which earned him $39.4 million). In an eventuality once considered even less likely than Marcus finding a new team and leading it to the Super Bowl, the 25-year-old arguably supplanted Ryan Leaf as the biggest National Football League bust of all-time.  

H/T   |   NBC Bay Area

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