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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Pete Rose Jr., a minor league baseball player and son of baseball's all-time hits leader, was charged on Monday with distributing an illegal euphoria-producing drug to players, authorities said.
Rose, 35, surrendered to authorities in Nashville on a charge of conspiracy to distribute GBL, or gamma-butyrolactone, a chemical that is often used as a cleaning solvent but can also produce a euphoric effect, said Harry Summers of the Drug Enforcement Agency.
"It's extremely dangerous and never made for human consumption," Summers said, adding that GBL closely resembles the so-called date-rape drug GHB (gamma-hydroxbutyrate), which also is illegal.
The charge against Rose, whose father was banned from baseball for gambling, accused his of conspiracy to distribute the drug in 1997 to members of the Chattanooga Lookouts, a minor league team in Tennessee affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds.
Rose has bounced around baseball's minor leagues since 1989 and last played during the summer with the Long Island Ducks in New York. He did make it up to the Reds for 14 at-bats in 1997.
Pete Rose Sr. starred for the Reds for years and also played for Philadelphia and Montreal. He finished his 24-season Major League career in 1986 with 4,256 hits in 3,562 games, both records.
After his playing career, the senior Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 for having gambled on games while managing the Reds, missing out on certain induction to the Hall of Fame, though he is lobbying to be reinstated. In 1990, he served five months in prison for tax evasion.
Rose, 35, surrendered to authorities in Nashville on a charge of conspiracy to distribute GBL, or gamma-butyrolactone, a chemical that is often used as a cleaning solvent but can also produce a euphoric effect, said Harry Summers of the Drug Enforcement Agency.
"It's extremely dangerous and never made for human consumption," Summers said, adding that GBL closely resembles the so-called date-rape drug GHB (gamma-hydroxbutyrate), which also is illegal.
The charge against Rose, whose father was banned from baseball for gambling, accused his of conspiracy to distribute the drug in 1997 to members of the Chattanooga Lookouts, a minor league team in Tennessee affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds.
Rose has bounced around baseball's minor leagues since 1989 and last played during the summer with the Long Island Ducks in New York. He did make it up to the Reds for 14 at-bats in 1997.
Pete Rose Sr. starred for the Reds for years and also played for Philadelphia and Montreal. He finished his 24-season Major League career in 1986 with 4,256 hits in 3,562 games, both records.
After his playing career, the senior Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 for having gambled on games while managing the Reds, missing out on certain induction to the Hall of Fame, though he is lobbying to be reinstated. In 1990, he served five months in prison for tax evasion.