BOXER PLEADS GUILTY TO CHARGE OF POSSESSING COCAINE AT BEACH

VIRGINIA BEACH -- Former boxing champion Pernell "Sweetpea'' Whitaker
pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of cocaine possession -- a plea that
came almost five months after he was caught in the city courthouse with a
small packet of the drug.

Circuit Judge Thomas S. Shadrick granted Whitaker first-time offender
status, which will allow him to avoid jail time and a felony conviction on
his record.

In exchange, the six-time world champion will be on supervised probation
for one year and will receive substance-abuse treatment, said Whitaker's
lawyer, Lionel I. Hancock III, a Norfolk attorney.

Whitaker also will be on a restricted driver's license for six months,
Hancock said.

He has already completed 100 hours of community service as part of his
probation, most of it at Norfolk State University, Hancock said.

Whitaker could have been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In recent years, Whitaker has had a series of run-ins with the law
associated with both drugs and driving.

Most recently, he was sentenced Aug. 10 to four days in jail after being
convicted of speeding and driving without a valid license.

While deputies were preparing Whitaker for entry into the jail, they
discovered a small packet of cocaine in his money roll. A state trooper
tested the substance, and Whitaker was charged with cocaine possession.

Because of a suspected probation violation, Whitaker was held in jail until
Aug. 13, even though he was required to serve only half of his four-day
sentence.

He was later determined not to have violated his probation.

Whitaker's driving problems date to 1998. He was found guilty in Virginia
Beach of two reckless driving charges and one speeding charge in January
and December of that year, costing him $1,350 in fines and one year of
probation.

He also was ticketed by Norfolk police a different time for driving without
a license.

Whitaker announced his retirement from boxing in April after losing in the
second round of a 10-round fight with junior middleweight Carlos Bojorquez.

The 38-year-old Olympic gold medalist tested positive for cocaine twice
during his career, in 1997 and 1998. Although he has repeatedly denied
using drugs, he checked into a drug-rehabilitation clinic in 1998.

Whitaker has no interest in returning to the ring as a fighter, Hancock
said. Injuries and his age would make a comeback improbable, the lawyer said.

But, Hancock said, "he is interested in trying to become a trainer.''

13 News contributed to this report.