Pete Rose's Son Pleads Guilty To Drug Charges
POSTED: 10:53 am EST November 7, 2005
UPDATED: 1:38 pm EST November 7, 2005
CINCINNATI -- Pete Rose Jr. could face up to 20 years in prison after admitting using an
illegal drug while playing on a Reds minor-league team and sellling it to half of his teammates, News 5's John London reported.
Authorities said Rose Jr. pleaded guilty Monday to distributing a steroid alternative known as gamma butyrolactone (GBL) while he played for the Chattanooga Lookouts in 1999. Rose Jr. said he and teammates used it to unwind after games, London reported.
Rose Jr. turned himself in Monday morning in Nashville, Tenn.
The Reds have not made any comment. Rose Jr. has not been a member of the Reds organization since 1997, but some players on Chattanooga roster in 1999 were Reds farmhands, and a few may still be in the Reds organization.
GBL is marketed as a dietary supplement. GBL products claim to build muscles, improve physical performance, enhance sex, reduce stress and induce sleep.
But the DEA said it is a dangerous drug that caused 62 deaths between 1992 and 2001.
When ingested, GBL turns into GHB, the date-rape drug. It causes a trance-like state when consumed in larger doses, the DEA said.
In its pure form, GBL is used as an industrial solvent for degreasing engines and stripping wood on bowling alleys and gym floors.
Rose Jr. was caught after federal agents busted a national GBL distribution ring, the DEA said. Agent confronted him last season while he was playing for the Long Island Ducks minor-league team
Rose Jr. was manager of the Florence Freedom baseball team for a brief time last year.
The son of the Reds great and baseball's all-time hit king tried to follow in his dad's footsteps as a baseball player but couldn't live up to his pedigree. Rose Jr. was a lifelong minor-leaguer, playing 13 seasons, mostly in the bush leagues.
He had 15 minutes of fame when the Reds called him up in September 1997 and he made his major-league debut at Cinergy Field. He wore his dad's No. 14, with his dad watching from the stands.
Rose Jr., playing third base that day, got a single. But he only got 14 at-bats with the Reds and they released him after the season.
He never got to play in the majors again. His major-league record: 11 games, 2 hits in 14 at-bats, a .143 batting average.
As a kid, Rose Jr. was known as Petey and hung around the Reds clubhouse with Ken Griffey Jr. and other sons of Big Red Machine stars. When Rose broke Ty Cobb's hit record in 1985, the 15-year-old Petey ran onto the field at Riverfront Stadium and hugged his dad while he was standing on first base.
Rose Jr. graduated from Oak Hills High School and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles.
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