Although he had recently been released from prison for a 1992 drug-related conviction, they said, he was clean and eager to end his parole.
Mr. Wade, 28 at the time of the shooting, was on parole for a 1992 drug-related conviction.
First, they lost Kevin Mack, their fullback, who was in prison most of the season on a drug-related conviction.
Once convicted, Lucas provided evidence that led to more than 100 further drug-related convictions.
"The money helps, but it's really the camaraderie and the hope," said Aracelis Turino, who did 10 years in federal prisons on a drug-related conviction.
Current laws deny housing to former offenders with drug-related convictions.
He and two of his sons, David and John, were indicted in 1983 and served prison sentences on drug-related convictions.
It turned to the F.B.I. for records of not only alcohol-related but also drug-related convictions and to the highway department in Florida.
He had drug-related convictions in the 1990s.
Mr. Wade, at the time of the shooting, was on parole after having served time in prison for a 1992 drug-related conviction.