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.
Gooden will appear in court for a hearing sometime in the next
two weeks, prosecutor Pam Bondi said.
The 41-year-old Gooden pleaded guilty in November to speeding
away from police after a DUI traffic stop in August 2005 and was
sentenced to three years of 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 was then arrested and taken to the Hillsborough County
Jail, Rackleff said.
Gooden was voted the 1984 Rookie of the Year and 1985 NL Cy
Young Award winner while pitching for 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.