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Court testimony: Linda Bollea spent assets on drugs

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 15, 2009

Updated: 06/15/2009 06:15 pm

CLEARWATER - At a time when Hulk Hogan's attorneys were paying close attention to the spending habits of estranged wife Linda Bollea, Linda Bollea went to her Tampa hairdresser's salon and asked that checks be cashed so Linda Bollea could buy drugs, the hairdresser testified this afternoon.

Tracy Morgan, the hairdresser, said Linda Bollea's favorite combination of drugs was smoking pot and taking Roxycodone, a narcotic pain reliever.

Morgan was testifying at a hearing sought by Hogan who wants Linda's alimony decreased from $40,000 a month. The hearing was continued to July 23.

Hogan's attorneys had others testify – a truck driver who said he saw Linda Bollea snort cocaine on a boat; a postal worker who said Linda Bollea wanted to buy his customized Nissan but hide the purchase from Hogan's attorneys; and a Nordstrom's employee who said she bought clothes for young boyfriend Charlie Hill.

But it was Morgan's testimony that was the most incendiary.

Outside court, Raymond Rafool, Linda Bollea's attorney, characterized Morgan's remarks as "complete fabrication."

Morgan has been paid by both Linda Bollea and Hogan for their respective hair extensions. In court, Rafool accused her of hitting up Linda Bollea for cash with sob stories about having to sleep on the floor of her salon, and the exorbitant costs of a grandchild's multiple surgeries.

But Morgan tried to hold her ground, denying some of Rafool's accusations and interrupting while Circuit Judge George Greer was trying to hash out a technical point with the attorneys involved in the case. At one point, Greer told her, "Please get off your soapbox."

While testifying, Morgan said she has known the Bollea family for ten years, accompanying them on family vacations to New York and Vegas.

She said Linda Bollea repeatedly stopped by her business, Salon Forte, on West Kennedy Boulevard, and asked that checks be cashed so Bollea could buy drugs. She cited one occasion where the purchase of drugs occurred on the premises of the salon.

She also claimed that Linda Bollea held a party at the estranged couple's mansion, where a crowd comprising mostly teenagers and people in their 20s had access to marijuana, alcohol and cocaine.

The party was held the day before the couple's son, Nick Bollea, was released from the Pinellas County Jail after serving an eight-month sentence in connection with a car wreck that left Bollea's passenger, John Graziano, with permanent brain damage. But Linda Bollea made sure all the illegal substances were disposed of before Nick arrived with his defense attorney, Morgan testified.

Part of Nick Bollea's sentence is that, while he is on probation, he abstain from alcohol.

Repeatedly, Morgan said, Linda Bollea spoke of efforts to keep her spending habits secret, and of trying to squeeze every dime she could out of Hogan.

"Her intention is to get 50 percent of Terry's future earnings and if she didn't get them, he wouldn't have future earnings," Morgan said.

She said Linda Bollea has contacts at tabloids and would use them in a smear campaign against Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea.

Also testifying was James Flynn, a truck driver who said he met Linda Bollea Memorial Day weekend. He said he saw her, from a distance, snort cocaine on a boat, but Rafool questioned how Flynn knew what she was bringing up to her nose.

Flynn acknowledged, under cross-examination, that he alerted the Bubba The Love Sponge show of what he claimed he saw. Bubba the Love Sponge is a good friend of Hogan's, and the two have spoken disparagingly of her on the radio show frequently.

Postal worker Bradley Strohecker testified that Linda Bollea offered to buy his customized Nissan 350 – for $15,000 in cash -- but told Strohecker the transaction would have to be "hush hush." She also wanted the vehicle transported to California, where it would be hidden, he said.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336.

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