Former Ohio State QB Art Schlichter charged with cocaine possession
Former Ohio State quarterback Arthur Schlichter will be making an appearance in a Franklin County (Ohio) courtroom on Friday morning, accused of possessing about a quarter-gram of cocaine.
Schlichter, 62, is charged with a fifth-degree felony count of possession of drugs, according to court records.
Schlichter was found unresponsive around 3:45 a.m. on June 6 inside a room at the Hampton Inn in Hilliard, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Hilliard police in Franklin County Municipal Court.
Officers administered Narcan, a drug used to reverse the effects of an opiate overdose, before Schlichter was taken to an area hospital by Norwich Township paramedics.
Officers also found drug paraphernalia "throughout the room," according to court records, including a white powdery substance. That substance was sent to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation's crime lab for analysis, which determined it was .26 grams of cocaine, police said in court records.
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The felony drug charge was filed against Schlichter on Oct. 5, following the results of the lab analysis.
Hilliard police said Schlichter's clothing and other personal items were found in the hotel room, indicating that he was the person staying in the room. Court records list his address as being in Washington Court House.
Schlichter, who was Ohio State's quarterback from 1978-1981 under Coach Woody Hayes and a one-time Heisman Trophy contender, has faced a slew of legal troubles in the years since his on-field heroics at Ohio Stadium.
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After being drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Colts in 1982, Schlichter was suspended in 1983 following an investigation by the FBI into Schlichter's gambling activities while at Ohio State. He later was reinstated and then played for the Buffalo Bills.
Schlichter was released from prison in June 2021 after serving time for fraud charges related to a massive ticket scheme that resulted in millions of dollars in losses for his victims. He is currently on parole.
Part of the parole conditions are that Schlichter would not use illegal drugs. Court records show no motion has been filed in Schlichter's 2011 case — which resulted in him being sentenced to 11 years in state prison that were served concurrently with a 10-year federal prison sentence — to revoke Schlichter's parole.