HSBC to pay record $1.9B fine

British-owned bank HSBC is paying $1.9B to settle a US money-laundering probe. The bank was investigated for involvement in the transfer of funds from Mexican drug cartels and sanctioned nations like Iran. (Dec. 11)

HSBC has agreed to pay a record $1.92 billion fine to settle a multi-year probe by U.S. prosecutors, who accused Europe's biggest bank of failing to enforce rules designed to prevent the laundering of criminal cash.

The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday charged the bank with failing to maintain an effective program against money laundering and conduct due diligence on certain accounts.

In documents filed in federal court in Brooklyn, it also charged the bank with violating sanctions laws by doing business with Iran, Libya, Sudan, Burma and Cuba.

HSBC Holdings Plc admitted to a breakdown of controls and apologised for its conduct.

"We accept responsibility for our past mistakes. We have said we are profoundly sorry for them, and we do so again. The HSBC of today is a fundamentally different organisation from the one that made those mistakes," said Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver.

"Over the last two years, under new senior leadership, we have been taking concrete steps to put right what went wrong and to participate actively with government authorities in bringing to light and addressing these matters."

The bank agreed to forfeit $1.256 billion and retain a compliance monitor to resolve the charges through a deferred-prosecution agreement.

The settlement offers new information about failures at HSBC to police transactions linked to Mexico, details of which were reported this summer in a sweeping U.S. Senate probe.

The Senate panel alleged that HSBC failed to maintain controls designed to prevent money laundering by drug cartels, terrorists and tax cheats, when acting as a financier to clients routing funds from places including Mexico, Iran and Syria.

The bank was unable to properly monitor $15 billion in bulk cash transactions between mid-2006 and mid-2009, and had inadequate staffing and high turnover in its compliance units, the Senate panel's July report said.

HSBC on Tuesday said it expected to also reach a settlement with British watchdog the Financial Services Authority. The FSA declined to comment.

U.S. and European banks have now agreed to settlements with U.S. regulators totalling some $5 billion in recent years on charges they violated U.S. sanctions and failed to police potentially illicit transactions.

No bank or bank executives, however, have been indicted, as prosecutors have instead used deferred prosecutions - under which criminal charges against a firm are set aside if it agrees to conditions such as paying fines and changing behaviour.

HSBC's settlement also includes agreements or consent orders with the Manhattan district attorney, the Federal Reserve and three U.S. Treasury Department units: the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Comptroller of the Currency and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

HSBC said it would pay $1.921 billion, continue to cooperate fully with regulatory and law enforcement authorities, and take further action to strengthen its compliance policies and procedures. U.S. prosecutors have agreed to defer or forego prosecution.

The settlement is the third time in a decade that HSBC has been penalized for lax controls and ordered by U.S. authorities to better monitor suspicious transactions. Directives by regulators to improve oversight came in 2003 and again in 2010.

Last month, HSBC told investors it had set aside $1.5 billion to cover fines or penalties stemming from the inquiry and warned that costs could be significantly higher.

Analyst Jim Antos of Mizuho Securities said the settlement costs were "trivial" in terms of the company's book value.

"But in terms of real cash terms, that's a huge fine to pay," said Antos, who rates HSBC a "buy".

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Daley nephew pleads not guilty in 2004 beating death

Chicago Tribune criminal courts reporter Jason Meisner discusses the case of Richard Vanecko, who pleaded not guilty this morning to a charge of involuntary manslaughter. (Posted on: Dec. 10, 2012)

Richard Vanecko, the nephew of former Mayor Richard Daley, pleaded not guilty this morning to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2004 death of David Koschman.

The case was randomly assigned today to Judge Arthur Hill, a former prosecutor when Daley was state’s attorney.

When Vanecko appeared before the judge this morning, Hill noted he had also been appointed to the board of the Chicago Transit Authority by Daley when he was mayor. He also held the No. 2 post under State’s Attorney Dick Devine, who has strong ties to Daley.

Hill told lawyers in the case that he won’t voluntarily remove himself from presiding over the case but would understood if special prosecutor Dan Webb, who charged Vanecko, asked for another judge.

“This court believes I can be fair and impartial in this case,” Hill said.

The case will be back in court next Monday to give to give time to Webb’s team to weigh whether they will seek another judge other than Hill.

As Vanecko walked out of the courthouse flanked by his attorneys, they made no comment.

Earlier, Vanecko strode into the Leighton Criminal Court Building at 26^th Street and California just after 9 a.m. dressed in a gray suit and tie and charcoal overcoat accompanied by three of his attorneys.

A crowd of TV cameramen, photographers and reporters followed him inside, shouting questions that Vanecko did not answer.

Vanecko went through the security line and into presiding Judge Paul Biebel's first-floor courtroom.

Both sides have the option to ask for a different judge if there are conflicts of interest, something that could arise since Vanecko is such a high-profile defendant and there have been allegations of police and prosecutorial misconduct surrounding the case.

Vanecko, who currently resides in Costa Mesa, Calif., turned himself in to authorities in Chicago on Friday afternoon and later posed for a mug shot in a jacket and tie.

Last week, a special grand jury found that Vanecko, who is the son of former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s sister, Mary, “recklessly performed acts which were likely to cause great bodily harm to another.”

Koschman, 21, of Mount Prospect, had been drinking in the Rush Street nightlife district early on April 24, 2004, when he and his friends quarreled with a group that included Vanecko. During the altercation, Koschman was knocked to the street, hitting the back of his head on the pavement. He died 11 days later.

Police at the time said Koschman was the aggressor and closed the case without charges. In announcing the indictment, Webb, a former U.S. attorney, noted that at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, Vanecko towered over Koschman, who was 5-foot-5 and 125 pounds.

Webb also said the grand jury is still probing how the original investigation was conducted.

Vanecko’s attorneys issued a statement last week saying they were disappointed by the indictment and noted that at the time of the confrontation, Koschman’s blood-alcohol content was three times the legal limit for a motorist.

Koschman “was clearly acting in an unprovoked, physically aggressive manner,” Vanecko’s legal team said. “We are confident that when all the facts are aired in a court of law, the trier of fact will find Mr. Vanecko not guilty.”

If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Vanecko faces from probation up to 5 years in prison. 

jmeisner@tribune.com

gknue@tribune.com

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Massive HP conference draws 10,000 attendees to ogle products, speakers, presentations

By Suzy Hansen

More than 10,000 customers, partners and attendees flocked to the Hewlett-Packard Discover conference in Frankfurt, Germany, this week to learn about HP's latest products, exchange ideas, swap business cards and basically examine whether HP can improve the way their companies are run. The event was held at Messe Frankfurt, one of the world's largest trade exhibition sites.

CEO Meg Whitman acknowledged in her speech on Tuesday that HP has gone through some rough times this past year. HP's stock price has been nearly halved during her tenure. Whitman, however, pointed out that HP has $120 billion in revenue and is the 10th-largest company in the United States. In Q4, HP has generated $4.1 billion in cash flow.

"We are the No. 1 or No. 2 provider in almost every market," Whitman told the crowd in Frankfurt.

Whitman emphasized  executives' increasing concerns about security and said that it will be addressed by "a new approach": HP's security portfolio, with Autonomy and Vertica, which helps "analyze and understand the context of these events." Executive Vice President of Enterprise Dave Donatelli spoke about converged infrastructure, or bringing together server, network and storage; their software-defined data centers; and their new servers, which "change the way servers have been defined." George Kadifa, executive vice president of software, said 94 of the top 100 companies use HP software. HP is the sixth-largest software company in the world, with 16,000 employees in 70 countries, Kadifa added.

Also at the conference was Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks and an old friend of Whitman's from their Disney days, who roused the crowd with a fun speech about his long relationship with HP. Katzenberg showed an old video of himself onstage with a lion, which nearly mauled him. This time, he appeared onstage with a guy in a lion suit. The lesson was to learn from past mistakes and move on.

"If I am smart enough to say 'scalable multicorps processing,' I am smart enough to not put myself onstage with a real lion again," he joked.

The Discover conference is a key vehicle for HP to show off products it's offering in the coming year. Among them were the latest ProLiant and Integrity servers, the 3PAR StoreServ 7000 and the StoreAll and StoreOnce storage systems. At the HP Labs section of the conference, attendees could learn about the cloud infrastructure or test HP's new ElitePad 900.

Throughout the three-day event, which saw attendance grow by 30 percent this year, attendees wandered the enormous halls, milling around displays, watching videos, listening to speeches and participating in workshops. People gathered on clustered couches and chatted with new acquaintances, frequently stopping to plug in their various devices and recharge themselves with coffee. With people coming from all over the world, you could hear many languages spoken, from Arabic to French to the most bewildering of them all: the language of technology. Despite the large crowds, it was hard not to notice there were very few women among the thousands in attendance. In fact, when asked about this phenomenon, one female HP employee said, "Trust me, you aren't the first person who has come up to me asking about this."

Indeed, the Discover conference was like a forest of men in suits. The few women stood out like rays of sunlight. 

Regardless of their presence at this conference, women are making big strides in information technology. Among the leaders are HP CEO Whitman, who also led eBay; Carly Fiorina, who ran HP before Whitman; Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer; and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Were the women at the Discover conference surprised by the low female turnout?

"No, for IT this is standard," said Stefanie, a 30-year-old product manager from Germany. "Many are afraid of all the technical stuff, and you have to prove that you are capable of it. You get more women in retail and distribution but not in high-tech areas, at least not in Europe. In America there are more women in management positions and in general."

Americans might assume that Europe, with its generous social programs that include free daycare, enables more women to ascend the corporate ladder. But that still doesn't mean that a woman trying to balance a high-tech career and a family is always accepted in European society.

"There is still a lot of emphasis on the family," Stefanie said. "It's easier to move up in the U.S., where there is a culture of 'having it all.' It's quite a fight to get there here."

Still, the IT industry might seem inhospitable to women. Could this male-dominated profession be male-dominant because women have a hard time breaking in?

Stefanie disagreed. "No, they actually like working with women," she said. "They want to."

One male conference attendee, who asked not to be named, was less certain.

"There's a lot of ego and testosterone," he said. "It can't be easy" for women.

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Slumping Ravens fire offensive coordinator Cameron

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Cam Cameron has been fired as offensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, who have lost two straight and are still striving for consistency in the running and passing game.

Cameron ran the team's offense since the start of the 2008 season, when current coach Jim Harbaugh replaced Brian Billick. Since that time, the Ravens' attack has repeatedly taken a back seat to the team's defense.

The move came Monday.

Jim Caldwell, who was hired as quarterbacks coach before the season, will assume Cameron's duties. Caldwell was head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2009-11.

Baltimore (9-4) scored seven points after halftime Sunday in a 31-28 overtime loss to the Washington Redskins. Quarterback Joe Flacco passed for only 182 yards, lost a fumble and was intercepted in the third quarter.

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Surprise: New insurance fee in health overhaul law

WASHINGTON (AP) — Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It's a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed on to workers.

Employee benefits lawyer Chantel Sheaks calls it a "sleeper issue" with significant financial consequences, particularly for large employers.

"Especially at a time when we are facing economic uncertainty, (companies will) be hit with a multi-million dollar assessment without getting anything back for it," said Sheaks, a principal at Buck Consultants, a Xerox subsidiary.

Based on figures provided in the regulation, employer and individual health plans covering an estimated 190 million Americans could owe the per-person fee.

The Obama administration says it is a temporary assessment levied for three years starting in 2014, designed to raise $25 billion. It starts at $63 and then declines.

Most of the money will go into a fund administered by the Health and Human Services Department. It will be used to cushion health insurance companies from the initial hard-to-predict costs of covering uninsured people with medical problems. Under the law, insurers will be forbidden from turning away the sick as of Jan. 1, 2014.

The program "is intended to help millions of Americans purchase affordable health insurance, reduce unreimbursed usage of hospital and other medical facilities by the uninsured and thereby lower medical expenses and premiums for all," the Obama administration says in the regulation. An accompanying media fact sheet issued Nov. 30 referred to "contributions" without detailing the total cost and scope of the program.

Of the total pot, $5 billion will go directly to the U.S. Treasury, apparently to offset the cost of shoring up employer-sponsored coverage for early retirees.

The $25 billion fee is part of a bigger package of taxes and fees to finance Obama's expansion of coverage to the uninsured. It all comes to about $700 billion over 10 years, and includes higher Medicare taxes effective this Jan. 1 on individuals making more than $200,000 per year or couples making more than $250,000. People above those threshold amounts also face an additional 3.8 percent tax on their investment income.

But the insurance fee had been overlooked as employers focused on other costs in the law, including fines for medium and large firms that don't provide coverage.

"This kind of came out of the blue and was a surprisingly large amount," said Gretchen Young, senior vice president for health policy at the ERISA Industry Committee, a group that represents large employers on benefits issues.

Word started getting out in the spring, said Young, but hard cost estimates surfaced only recently with the new regulation. It set the per capita rate at $5.25 per month, which works out to $63 a year.

America's Health Insurance Plans, the major industry trade group for health insurers, says the fund is an important program that will help stabilize the market and mitigate cost increases for consumers as the changes in Obama's law take effect.

But employers already offering coverage to their workers don't see why they have to pony up for the stabilization fund, which mainly helps the individual insurance market. The redistribution puts the biggest companies on the hook for tens of millions of dollars.

"It just adds on to everything else that is expected to increase health care costs," said economist Paul Fronstin of the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute.

The fee will be assessed on all "major medical" insurance plans, including those provided by employers and those purchased individually by consumers. Large employers will owe the fee directly. That's because major companies usually pay upfront for most of the health care costs of their employees. It may not be apparent to workers, but the insurance company they deal with is basically an agent administering the plan for their employer.

The fee will total $12 billion in 2014, $8 billion in 2015 and $5 billion in 2016. That means the per-head assessment would be smaller each year, around $40 in 2015 instead of $63.

It will phase out completely in 2017 — unless Congress, with lawmakers searching everywhere for revenue to reduce federal deficits — decides to extend it.

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Fla. man sues ex-Elmo puppeteer, claims sex abuse

MIAMI (AP) — Another man on Monday sued the former Elmo puppeteer who resigned amid sex abuse allegations, claiming the voice actor befriended him in Miami and promised to be a father figure before flying the teen to New York to have sex with him.

The alleged victim is now the fourth to accuse Kevin Clash, who resigned from "Sesame Street" last month after 28 years. The three legal actions filed so far have been civil cases seeking financial compensation.

But the incident with the latest victim, referred to only as S.M., could involve criminal charges because the lawsuit claims Clash transported him across state lines for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity.

Attorney Jeff Herman said he encouraged his client to report the incident to authorities but it's unclear if the now-33-year-old alleged victim has done so.

Sexual abuse allegations against Clash triggered a media frenzy last month. He quickly denied the first claim, which was recanted the next day. But Clash then resigned after a 24-year-old college student, Cecil Singleton, sued him for $5 million, saying the actor engaged in sexual behavior with him when he was 15.

Singleton claims the voice actor met him in New York a dozen years ago after trolling gay telephone chat lines and seeking underage boys for sex.

In the latest case, the plaintiff said Clash approached him on Miami Beach, complimented his appearance and struck up a friendship. Clash returned home to New York, but stayed in touch with the teen, promising to be a dad to him. The youth, who was 16 or 17 at the time, had been molested by a teacher and was considering running away from home, according to the lawsuit.

"These are all vulnerable boys. None of them had father figures in their lives and they were looking for that father figure," said Herman, who represents three of the alleged victims.

The lawsuit says Cash paid for a plane ticket from Florida to New York in 1996 and arranged for a car service to pick up the teen and bring him to his upscale apartment, where he gave him cash and showered him with "attention and affection" and ultimately engaged in numerous sexual acts.

Herman said he is poring over receipts and other documents to see if the car service was paid for by Cash's employers at Sesame Street.

Phone calls and emails to publicists for Clash and Sesame Street were not immediately returned Monday.

Herman said the alleged victims didn't come forward sooner because they were afraid, but have found courage as others have spoken up.

He said they are compliant victims who participated in the sexual acts, but didn't consent because it's illegal for a minor to do so.

"Because they participated in the sex they feel like they're doing something wrong ... they're ashamed, they're embarrassed, not something they really want to talk about," he said.

Herman said he's been contacted by several other possible victims and is vetting their cases.

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McDonald's sales rebound in November

McDonald’s took Wall Street by surprise Monday morning, with a November same store sales report that beat expectations and showed particular strength in the U.S. business.

The news follows a weak performance in October that had some investors speculating about the future of the world’s largest restaurant company.

The Oak Brook-based burger giant reported U.S. same store sales up 2.5 percent on the strength of its breakfast business, value offerings, beverages and limited-time offers like the cheddar bacon onion sandwich. In Europe, same store sales grew 1.4 percent, and 0.6 percent in the chain’s Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa division.

Overall, same store sales increased 2.4 percent, beating expectations of a roughly flat performance. Company stock rose nearly 1 percent in early morning trading, to $89.35.

"We are strengthening our focus on the global priorities that are most impactful to our customers -- optimizing our menu, modernizing the customer experience and broadening accessibility to our brand to move our business forward," McDonald's CEO Don Thompson said in a statement.

While the sales report is likely to be a boon for the burger giant, investors don’t expect company performance to return to normal levels until early 2013. Winter is typically the slow period for fast food chains, with summer typically being the busiest season.

Baird analyst David Tarantino raised his fourth quarter earnings estimate by a penny Monday morning following the sales announcement. He wrote that while company performance "could remain soft" through the first quarter of 2013, "the November sales report supports our thesis that McDonald's can achieve better performance in 2013 as a whole, with results aided by planned initiatives (including increased emphasis on value plus premium offerings across markets), fewer cost pressures, and less negative currency translation."

The chain has taken a tough stance on slipping U.S. sales. The company’s October sales, which slipped 2.2 percent, marked the first decline in more than nine years. Days later, McDonald’s said U.S. president Jan Fields had resigned and would be replaced by Jeff Stratton.

eyork@tribune.com | Twitter: @emilyyork

MCD data by YCharts

MCD data by YCharts

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4th quarter: Vikings 21, Bears 7

MINNEAPOLIS -- A 21-14 loss Sunday to the Minnesota Vikings continued a disturbing pattern for the Chicago Bears over the last two seasons: Losers of four of their last five games, the Bears fell to 8-5 and are slowly taking their hands off the steering wheel that would guide them to the playoffs.

Last season, the Bears began 7-3 before finishing 8-8 and out of the postseason.
 
Adrian Peterson victimized the Bears early and often Sunday. He sprinted 51 yards on his first carry of the game and wound up with two touchdowns. He had 104 yards rushing by the end of the first period to set a club record for the Vikings (7-6).
 
The Bears could not get much going offensively. Jay Cutler wound up completing 22 of 42 passes for 260 yards and one TD. He was intercepted twice and left the game late in the fourth quarter.

Jason Campbell replaced Cutler, who took numerous hard hits during the game, with four minutes remaining and the Bears down two touchdowns. He hit Brandon Marshall on a 16-yard TD pass to bring the Bears to within 21-14 with 1:48 left to play in regulation.

Minnesota's defense made a major impact in the third quarter. Cutler threw an interception that safety Harrison Smith returned 56 yards for a touchdown with 3:27 left in the period and the Vikings led 21-7.

Shortly before halftime, Cutler hit Alshon Jeffery on a 23-yard TD pass just with 1:52 to play in the second quarter to cut the Vikings' lead to 14-7. The seven-play drive covered 69 yards.

Earlier, after Jeffery fell down on his route, a Cutler pass was intercepted by Vikings cornerback Josh Robinson. He returned the pick 44 yards to the Bears' 5. Adrian Peterson scored his second TD of the day from a yard out to make it 14-0 at the 8:46 mark of the first quarter.

Peterson -- who gained 104 yards in the first quarter -- had greeted the Bears with a 51-yard run on the Vikings' first play from scrimmage down to the Bears' 29. The drive ended with a 1-yard TD run by Peterson with 11:53 left in the first quarter. Blair Walsh converted and the Vikings led 7-0.

More bad news: Robbie Gould suffered a strained calf during warmups, and punter Adam Podlesh had to handle the opening kickoff. Gould was able to kick an extra point in the second quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Marshall made his 100th catch of the season, marking the fourth time in his career that he has reached the century mark in receptions.

Bears safety Craig Steltz was ruled out for the game with a chest injury. Defensive tackle Henry Melton left the field on a cart after walking off with an apparent leg injury, but he later returned.

The Bears came into the game as the fifth seed in the NFC, having beaten the Vikings 28-10 two weeks ago. A home loss to Seattle last Sunday left the Bears sorely in need of a triumph at the Metrodome. The Bears and Packers entered the day tied with 8-4 records, but Green Bay held the tiebreaker after beating Chicago in Week 2. The Packers host the Lions on Sunday night.

fmitchell@tribune.com

Twitter @kicker34

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Software guru McAfee wants to return to United States

GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Software guru John McAfee, fighting deportation from Guatemala to Belize to face questions about the slaying of a neighbor, said on Saturday he wants to return to the United States.

"My goal is to get back to America as soon as possible," McAfee, 67, said in a phone call to Reuters from the immigration facility where he is being held for illegally crossing the border to Guatemala with his 20-year-old girlfriend.

"I wish I could just pack my bags and go to Miami," McAfee said. "I don't think I fully understood the political situation. I'm an embarrassment to the Guatemalan government and I'm jeopardizing their relationship with Belize."

The two neighboring countries in Central America are locked in a decades-long territorial dispute and voters in 2013 will decide in a referendum how to proceed.

Responding to McAfee's remarks, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said U.S. citizens in foreign countries are subject to local laws. Officials can only ensure they are "treated properly within this framework," she said.

On Wednesday, Guatemalan authorities arrested McAfee in a hotel in Guatemala City where he was holed up with his Belizean girlfriend.

The former Silicon Valley millionaire is wanted for questioning by Belizean authorities, who say he is a "person of interest" in the killing of fellow American Gregory Faull, McAfee's neighbor on the Caribbean island of Ambergris Caye.

The two had quarreled at times, including over McAfee's unruly dogs. Authorities in Belize say he is not a prime suspect in the investigation.

Guatemala rejected McAfee's request for asylum on Thursday. His lawyers then filed several appeals to block his deportation. They say it could take months to resolve the matter.

The software developer has been evading Belize authorities for nearly four weeks and has chronicled his life on the run in his blog, www.whoismcafee.com.

McAfee claims authorities will kill him if he turns himself in for questioning. He has denied any role in Faull's killing and said he is being persecuted by Belize's ruling party for refusing to pay some $2 million in bribes.

Belize's prime minister has rejected this, calling McAfee paranoid and "bonkers.

BEATING HEAD AGAINST WALL

After making millions with the anti-virus software bearing his name, McAfee later lost much of his fortune. For the past four years he has lived in semi-reclusion in Belize.

He started McAfee Associates in the late 1980s but left soon after taking it public. McAfee now has no relationship with the company, which was later sold to Intel Corp.

Hours after his arrest, McAfee was rushed to a hospital for what his lawyer said were two mild heart attacks. Later he said the problem was stress. McAfee said he fainted after days of heavy smoking, poor eating and knocking his head against a wall.

He told Reuters he no longer has access to the Internet and has turned over the management of his blog to friends in Seattle, Washington. On Saturday, they began posting a series of files claiming to detail Belize's corruption.

Residents and neighbors in Belize have said the eccentric tech entrepreneur, who is covered in tribal tattoos and kept an entourage of bodyguards and young women on the island, had appeared unstable in recent months.

Police in April raided his property in Belize on suspicion he was running a lab to make illegal narcotics. There already was a case against him for possession of illegal firearms.

McAfee says the charges are an attempt to frame him.

"People are saying I'm paranoid and crazy but it's difficult for people to comprehend what has been happening to me," he said. "It's so unusual, so out of the mainstream."

(Editing by Dave Graham and Bill Trott)

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Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says team is grieving

CINCINNATI (AP) — Dallas Cowboys players bowed their heads and some of them placed their hands over their hearts during a moment of silence Sunday for a teammate killed in a car accident a day earlier in Texas.

Owner Jerry Jones described his team as grieving before the kickoff of a game against the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium that had playoff implications for both teams. The Cowboys learned on their flight to Cincinnati on Saturday that linebacker Jerry Brown had died in an accident overnight.

Defensive lineman Josh Brent was charged with intoxication manslaughter in Irving, Texas, for the early morning accident.

"First of all, I think that our team is grieving and they know that," Jones told Fox for its pregame broadcast. "They also know that they can handle that better if they will go out and do their work and do it to the top of their abilities.

"So it is a way for them to respond and to some degree, I am sure that many of them are proud that they have this to do this afternoon."

It was the second week in a row that an NFL team played a game one day after a team member died. Kansas City linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend, then killed himself at the Chiefs' practice complex in front of his coach and general manager.

Coach Jason Garrett told the Cowboys (6-6) on Saturday night that it was important to play well against the Bengals (7-5). Both teams needed a win to stay in the thick of playoff contention.

"First of all we all know, but we remind ourselves that there is something more important than football, and this is life and certainly the lost life of Jerry," Jones said. "On the other hand, they know the best way they can honor Jerry, because he was such a hard worker, so conscientious and enthusiastic about his career."

The teams observed a moment of silence for Brown before the national anthem. Quarterback Tony Romo put his hand over his heart, as did other Cowboys. Most lowered their heads.

Players around the league were touched by the Cowboys' tragedy.

San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman and special teams standout Demarcus Dobbs thought about it before a home game Sunday against Miami. Dobbs was arrested early Nov. 30 — his 25th birthday — on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of marijuana. He missed last week's game at St. Louis but was active for Sunday's game with the Dolphins.

Authorities said Dobbs was alone and involved in a single-car accident in which he hit a chain-link fence and a bush but didn't sustain any injuries.

"It was a wake-up call to me what happened to me," Dobbs said on the field before the game. "The thing that happened in Dallas, it makes me grateful that God was looking out for me. It could have been a lot worse in my situation.

"What happened in Dallas is unfortunate. It just goes to show what could have been. I'm grateful that I'm here and able to be on the team and go on and continue my life. That saddened me to hear that, but it made me count my blessings even more."

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AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report.

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Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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