COCAINE CHARGE CAPS BOXER WHITAKER'S DAY IN COURT

VIRGINIA BEACH -- Former boxing champion Pernell "Sweetpea" Whitaker was
charged with possessing cocaine on Friday after sheriff's deputies
allegedly found the drug during a search before he was taken to jail on two
traffic convictions.

Whitaker appeared before General District Court Judge Robert L. Simpson Jr.
shortly after noon on charges of speeding 70 mph in a 55 mph zone and
driving without a valid license. The violations occurred on June 3, 2000,
according to a court clerk.

Whitaker pleaded guilty and was sentenced by Simpson to four days in jail.
He immediately was taken into custody by deputies who searched him before
admitting him to the Virginia Beach Correctional Center. The cocaine was
found during the search, said Paula Miller, spokeswoman for the Virginia
Beach Sheriff's Office.

A small, zip-lock "baggie" containing a suspicious substance fell out of
Whitaker's money roll as deputies were taking inventory of Whitaker's
belongings, Miller said.

A state police trooper was called to test the substance, which was found to
be cocaine, she said. Whitaker then was charged with possession of a
controlled substance and placed on a $2,500 bond, Miller said.

Miller said that Whitaker will have to serve two days of the four-day
sentence for the traffic convictions. He is scheduled to be released from
jail on Sunday, she said.

Miller did not know when Whitaker would appear in court on the cocaine charge.

Whitaker, a six-time world boxing champion, announced his retirement in
April after losing in the second round of a 10-round fight with junior
middleweight Carlos Bojorquez.

The 37-year-old former Olympic gold medalist tested positive for cocaine
twice during his boxing career, in 1997 and 1998. Although he has
repeatedly denied ever using drugs, he checked into a drug rehabilitation
clinic in 1998.

Days after his retirement announcement, Whitaker suffered a seizure in the
bathroom of his Virginia Beach home and was taken to the hospital. Although
his girlfriend told emergency dispatchers that Whitaker had ingested
cocaine prior to passing out, Whitaker blamed the seizure on a mixture of
pain medication and alcohol.

Friday's drug charge and jail sentence are the latest in a series of
run-ins with the law for Whitaker.

In March 1999, he pleaded guilty in Virginia Beach to driving under the
influence of alcohol. He was fined $1,000 and his driver's license was
suspended for a year.

Whitaker was found guilty in Virginia Beach of two reckless driving charges
and one speeding charge between January 1998 and December 1998, costing him
a total of $1,350 in fines and one year of probation.

Whitaker also was ticketed by Norfolk police in May for driving without a
license.

Lionel Hancock III, Whitaker's attorney, said that he had hoped Whitaker's
court appearance Friday would be his last.

"We were hopeful that we were going to graduate with flying colors,"
Hancock said. "But we didn't."