Ex-Mets ace Dwight Gooden gets probation over 2019 drug charge
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Former Mets phenom Dwight Gooden has been sentenced to a year of probation over a drug arrest in 2019.
The one-time Mets ace, whose once-promising career was derailed by drug abuse, learned his fate during a virtual court appearance Thursday more than a year after he pleaded guilty to one count of cocaine possession following a New Jersey traffic stop in June 2019.
Gooden’s car was stopped by police in Holmdel, about 20 miles from New York, for failure to maintain a lane and driving too slow, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Monmouth County prosecutor’s office.
Two plastic baggies containing cocaine were found in Gooden’s car,. prosecutors said.
Gooden avoided prison, but only on the promise that he would complete a drug rehabilitation program.
At Thursday’s sentencing, state Superior Court Judge Vincent Falcetano said a recent evaluation found Gooden to have made significant progress “and it’s hard to believe that it’s really the same person."
“I understand that my recovery has to come first,” the 55-year-old Gooden told the judge. "This has saved my life.''
With News Wire Services
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