TAMPA, Fla. - Former baseball star Dwight Gooden was ordered held without bond Wednesday and faces up to five years in prison for violating the terms of his probation, a prosecutor said.
Gooden, 41, pleaded guilty in November to speeding away from police after a DUI traffic stop in August 2005 and was sentenced to three years probation. On Tuesday he went to a regular meeting with a probation officer where he admitted to using cocaine, according to Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.
"He went to his regular meeting with his probation officer, admitted to the officer that he had used cocaine. She did a drug screen, and he tested positive for cocaine," Rackleff said.
Gooden will appear in court for a hearing sometime during the next two weeks, prosecutor Pam Bondi said.
Gooden is the 1984 Rookie of the Year and 1985 NL Cy Young Award winner while with the New York Mets. He went 194-112 with a 3.51 ERA before retiring in 2001. He also pitched for the Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
A call to Peter Hobson, who has represented Gooden in the past, was not immediately returned Wednesday.
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