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Federal authorities are weighing the possibility of issuing the New Orleans Saints a hefty fine for "violating laws governing the proper storage, control and dispensing of prescription drugs" in 2009, the Washington Post reported Monday as part of a series of stories on how NFL teams handle prescription pain killers.

The issue with Saints and the prescription pain killer Vicodin was first brought to light when the team's former security director, Geoffrey Santini, filed a civil suit against the team in 2010. Santini claimed in the suit that a total of about 130 Vicodin pills went missing during a four-month period in early 2009. Santini installed a hidden camera and obtained videotape of Saints assistant coach Joe Vitt, who served as the team's interim coach in 2012, unlocking the prescription drug locker three times to remove a handful of pills. Vitt tried another time but was unsuccessful because the lock had been changed. The Post reviewed the videotapes that Santini made and reported that Vitt could be clearly made out removing the pills.



Santini, in the lawsuit, claimed that Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis directed him and the training staff to cover up evidence of the theft before a mandatory NFL audit by changing the logs to say that all of the pills were properly distributed to Vitt for a legitimate medical reason.

Eventually, according to the lawsuit, Loomis directed all information to be turned over to the U.S. Attorney's Office and Drug Enforcement Agency officials. The suit later was settled by arbitration.

In 2010 a local DEA spokesman told The Associated Press "there is a pending investigation" of the matter and the U.S. Attorney at the time, Jim Letten, said his office was aware of the matter but declined comment. No timetable for the DEA investigation was offered by the spokesman and an update has never been made public until Monday's Post report.

According to the Post report, Vitt agreed in U.S. District Court to enter what's known as a pre-trial diversion program, "a form of probation for first-time offenders in which he fulfilled certain obligations for 12 months, ranging from paying a fine to undergoing education, according to two people familiar with the agreement."

The Post reported, citing anonymous sources, that DEA investigators unearthed a number of violations with the Saints and worked with the team to bring the organization into better compliance.

The Saints declined to comment to the Post on the report.

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