Former 100-metre world-record holder Tim Montgomery is scheduled to appear in federal court Monday for a bond hearing on charges of heroin distribution.
Montgomery, 33, was arrested Wednesday on charges of dealing more than 100 grams of heroin in Virginia over the past year.The former track star was taken by U.S. marshals to the Portsmouth city jail on Wednesday night, where he will stay until his scheduled hearing on Monday.Montgomery declined an interview request after his arrest but in a story published Friday in The Virginian-Pilot, he told the Norfolk-based paper that he knew nothing of the accusations and that his arrest was a surprise.The legal woes aren't the first for Montgomery, who is scheduled for sentencing on May 16 in connection with a New York-based charge.Montgomery has admitted that he helped his former coach, Olympic champion Steve Riddick, and others cash $1.7 million US in stolen and counterfeit cheques. He pleaded guilty in that case and faces up to 46 months in prison. Riddick is currently serving a five-year prison term.Montgomery's former companion, gold medallist Marion Jones, began her six-month sentence in a U.S. federal prison near Dallas in early March after being convicted of lying to investigators about using performance-enhancing drugs and about her role in the cheque fraud scam.Montgomery was banned from track for two years for doping and he retired in December 2005.In addition to the ban, all of his performances after March 31, 2001, were wiped from the books — eliminating his world record of 9.78 seconds in the 100-metre dash in September 2002.Montgomery will still retain his silver medal in the 400 relay at the 1996 Olympics and his gold medal from the 400 relay at the 2000 Olympics.
Trey Anastasio, 43, pleaded guilty in April to felony possession of painkillers without a prescription and agreed to enter a court-sponsored treatment program, thereby avoiding a much more serious dent in his touring schedule.
The former jam band frontman spent two days in an upstate New York jail last week after skipping a drug-counseling session, a violation of the terms of his plea agreement with Washington County's Drug Treatment Court.
The musician was originally facing seven counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, driving while intoxicated, misdemeanor heroin possession, possessing a painkiller belonging to someone else, and driving without a license.
A conviction on all charges could have netted him up to 14 years in prison. Instead, Anastasio's deal required him to make weekly court appearances for 12 months, perform community service and submit to random alcohol and drug testing.
His recent violation did not involve a drug test, only a missed counseling session, Assistant District Attorney Tony Jordan told the Glens Falls Post-Star.
Authorities characterized Anastasio's Jan. 16-18 stint behind bars in Washington County Jail as "uneventful." He remained part of the generation population.
The Junta purveyor was arrested Dec. 15, 2006, after police in Whitehall, New York, pulled him over for a traffic violation and, upon searching his car, found the painkillers hydrocodone and Percocet along with the anti-anxiety medication Xanax and a white powdery substance that turned out to be heroin.
At the time, Anastasio, who completed a 28-day stay at Eric Clapton's famed Crossroads Center in Antigua soon after his arrest, apologized for "any embarrassment I have caused my friends, family and fans."
Heath Ledger recently said he felt good about dying, now that he was a parent, because he was alive in his daughter, Matilda.
But at the same time, the Australian actor, who died in New York today, said he wanted to be around for the rest of the two-year-old's life.
Asked about being a parent he said: "I guess you're forced into kind of respecting yourself more, you learn more about yourself through your child, I guess," he told WJW FOX in Cleveland, Ohio.
Mr. Ledger was found naked on the floor near the bed in an apartment in SoHo that he had been renting. Police officials said that a bottle of prescription sleeping pills was found on a nearby night table, but it was not known whether the pills had anything to do with Mr. Ledger’s death. Officers who checked the apartment found other prescription medications in the bathroom. A spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday. The police said they did not suspect foul play. There were no signs that Mr. Ledger had been drinking, nor were any illegal drugs found in the loft, which takes up the entire fourth floor. No obvious indications of suicide, like a note, were found in the bedroom. Neighbors said Mr. Ledger had occupied it for several months.
A related article by Bruce Lambert describes the crowds that gathered outside the building in SoHo as news of Mr. Ledger’s death quickly made its way across New York. (More than 1,110 comments have been published so far on The Times’s initial blog post about Mr. Ledger’s death.)
Mr. Ledger broke up last year with the actress Michelle Williams; the couple have a 2-year-old daughter, Matilda. Citing unnamed sources, The Daily News reports that Ms. Williams had ejected Mr. Ledger from their home in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, “because of a drug problem that only got worse after he left.” The News also reports that in addition to the sleeping pills, the police found bottles of the anti-anxiety drug Valium and the antidepressant Zoloft in the SoHo apartment. A related article in The News examines the stunned reactions of Mr. Ledger’s neighbors in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The New York Post reports that Mr. Ledger “apparently overdosed on anti-anxiety pills.” Citing unnamed sources, The Post reports that bottles of the generic forms of Xanax and Valium, both anti-anxiety drugs prescribed for Mr. Ledger, were found in the apartment; that the prescription sleeping medication Ambien was found near Mr. Ledger’s body; and that a bottle of Donormyl, an antihistamine used as a sleep aid, and a packet of the drug Zopiclone, used for insomnia, were found on the nightstand. The Post also provides an overview of Mr. Ledger’s acting career and a portrait of the life Mr. Ledger and Ms. Williams had shared with their daughter in Brooklyn
Australian actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at an apartment in New York. He was 28.
Heath Ledger, 28, the co-star of the Oscar-winning movie "Brokeback Mountain," was found dead in a New York residence on Tuesday, police said.
"Heath Ledger was found dead at 3:26 pm this afternoon," a police spokesperson said, saying he was found in an apartment in the posh district of Soho. "We don't know the cause of the death."
Authorities say the death may be drug-related.
"We are investigating the possibility of an overdose,'' NY Police spokesman Paul Browne said.
"There were pills within the vicinity of the bed,'' he said.
Ledger's body has now been removed from his New York apartment and wheeled into the back of a medical examiner's van.
A huge crowd of news photographers gathered outside the apartment in the Soho building lit up the scene with flashes as authorities wheeled his body on a trolley from the complex into the van.
The actor has a two-year-old daughter with former fiancee Michelle Williams. He was set to play the Joker in the upcoming Batman film The Dark Knight.
A spokesperson for actress Mary-Kate Olsen denied earlier reports that the apartment in which Ledger was found belonged to her.
According to The New York Times Ledger was found naked and unconscious, with sleeping pills - both prescription medication and nonprescription - on a night table
New York police officer Martin Brown said investigators will likely not know the cause of death until an autopsy is held on the 28-year-old's body.
Asked if foul play had been ruled out, Officer Brown said it had not.
"That's what needs to be investigated,'' Brown told AAP.
"It takes a while.
"The medical examiner will do an autopsy and they will determine the cause of death.''
Ledger's body was discovered by his housekeeper, who came to tell him his masseuse had arrived for an appointment.
They entered his room and found him unconscious
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