FRANKLIN COUNTY — Former Ohio State University quarterback Art Schlichter has been charged with possession of cocaine, a fifth-degree felony, after he was found unresponsive in a Hilliard hotel room, according to court documents.
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Hilliard police responded to a Hampton Inn in Hilliard on a report of an overdose on June 6, according to an affidavit filed by the police department, our news partners with WBNS in Columbus report.
Officers said when they arrived, they found Schlichter, 62, unresponsive and began to administer Narcan to him. Narcan is a used to reverse the effects of overdoses. Medics took him to a hospital.
Police wrote in the filing that officers found drug paraphernalia in the room as well as a white powdery substance. A BCI analysis confirmed the substance found was .26 grams of cocaine.
The charge was filed in Franklin County Municipal Court on Oct. 5.
Schlichter is to be arraigned Friday on the cocaine possession charge.
In October 2011, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for engaging in corrupt activity and theft charges.
In June 2021, he was released from the Trumbull Correctional Institution in northeast Ohio and has been on parole.
Prosecutors said Schlichter promised college and NFL game tickets, including to the Super Bowl, but never delivered despite receiving thousands of dollars in payments.
He also spent 10 years in prison in Indiana for other 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.
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