COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A former Ohio State University quarterback has been sentenced to one year of probation after pleading guilty to a drug charge.
Art Schlichter, 63, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one fifth-degree felony drug possession charge stemming from a June 2022 cocaine arrest. According to court records, Schlichter was found unresponsive and had to be revived with Narcan at a hotel outside of Columbus.
In addition to probation, Schlichter is required to spend one day in Franklin County Jail.
Online court records show that if Schlichter should violate his probation, he would be subject to 11 months in prison. The court has also reserved the right to extend his probation by two years.
In 2021, Schlichter was released from the Trumbull Correctional Institution in Leavittsburg, Ohio, serving time for 2011 federal fraud charges related to a ticket scheme in which he swindled millions of dollars from his victims.
Before that 2011 conviction, Schlichter spent 10 years in prison in Indiana for gambling-related crimes. Upon release in 2006, Schlichter wrote a book about his addiction, “Busted,” and became an anti-gambling crusader. But even as he railed against casinos during church appearances, he was racking up new gambling debts.
He played at Ohio State from 1978 to 1981, becoming the program’s all-time leader in offense as a Buckeye.
After his college days, Schlichter was drafted fourth overall by the Baltimore Colts in the 1982 NFL draft. He threw three touchdown passes in the NFL before moving over to arena football.