The General
Another Day, Another Dollar
MIAMI (Reuters) - Embattled former baseball star Dwight Gooden chose on Wednesday to go to prison for a year and a day rather than enter a drug rehabilitation facility after using cocaine while on probation, court officials in Tampa said.
Gooden, a Tampa native who won the National League Cy Young Award in 1985, had been on probation since he fled from police after a traffic stop in 2004.
Submission to regular drug tests was one of the conditions of his probation and he was sent to Hillsborough County Jail last month after testing positive for cocaine.
Prosecutor Pam Bondi said Gooden was given the chance to accept treatment in an inpatient alcohol and drug addiction facility instead of prison time before his sentencing.
Bondi said Gooden chose the minimum one-year-and-one-day prison sentence instead because the judge said Gooden would receive a five-year sentence if he accepted the rehabilitation term and then slipped back into drug use.
"He let many people down but the most important person was himself," Bondi said.
Gooden started his Major League career with the New York Mets in 1984 and became one of baseball's most dominating pitchers. He also pitched for Cleveland, Houston, Tampa Bay and the New York Yankees before retiring after the 2000 season. He won 194 games and lost 112 in 16 seasons in a career marred by drug use and suspensions.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsA..._RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-GOODEN.xml&archived=False
Gooden, a Tampa native who won the National League Cy Young Award in 1985, had been on probation since he fled from police after a traffic stop in 2004.
Submission to regular drug tests was one of the conditions of his probation and he was sent to Hillsborough County Jail last month after testing positive for cocaine.
Prosecutor Pam Bondi said Gooden was given the chance to accept treatment in an inpatient alcohol and drug addiction facility instead of prison time before his sentencing.
Bondi said Gooden chose the minimum one-year-and-one-day prison sentence instead because the judge said Gooden would receive a five-year sentence if he accepted the rehabilitation term and then slipped back into drug use.
"He let many people down but the most important person was himself," Bondi said.
Gooden started his Major League career with the New York Mets in 1984 and became one of baseball's most dominating pitchers. He also pitched for Cleveland, Houston, Tampa Bay and the New York Yankees before retiring after the 2000 season. He won 194 games and lost 112 in 16 seasons in a career marred by drug use and suspensions.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsA..._RTRUKOC_0_US-CRIME-GOODEN.xml&archived=False
