ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Washington Redskins' All-Pro strong safety Tony Peters pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to sell cocaine in the Washington area this summer and was promptly suspended by the National Football League.
The 30-year-old defensive back pleaded guilty to one conspiracy count and one count of illegal use of the telephone to distribute cocaine.
U.S. District Judge Richard Williams accepted the pleas and set sentencing for October 7. Peters faces up to 19 years in prison and $55,000 in fines.
NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who suspended four players July 25 for violating league drug policies, quickly added Peters to the list upon hearing of the guilty plea.
'Based on his plea of guilty today to felony charges involving trafficking in illegal drugs, Washington Redskins' safety Tony Peters has been suspended without pay pending his October sentencing,' said NFL spokesman Joe Browne in a prepared statement. 'Final determination of his NFL status will be made after his sentencing.'
The 9-year NFL veteran was accused in nine counts of an 18-count indictment that also named seven other defendants. Peters, who recently signed a $1 million contract with the Super Bowl champion Redskins, was accused of accepting $3,000 in middleman fees to set up cocaine deals in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington.
Redskins' officials could not be reached immediately for comment.
If Peters, who is free on a $50,000 bond, had gone to trial and been convicted of all nine counts against him, he would have faced up to 114 years in prison and $215,000 in fines.
U.S. Attorney Elsie Munsell said after the hearing that Peters first became entangled in the conspiracy last October, when his Canadian half brothers, Charles and Douglas Bray of Toronto, sold a sample of cocaine to an undercover agent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
'The Brays stated that the sample came from Peters,' said Munsell.
Later, Peters acknowledged the cocaine sample during a telephone conversation with the agent. He also 'discussed the quality of cocaine that would be available' and said he 'had a source who was willing to deal in pounds,' according to Munsell.
In June and July, Peters met with undercover drug agents in restaurants and hotels in Northern Virginia and accepted a total of $3,000 on two occasions for facilitating cocaine deals, she said.
The indictment alleged the co-defendants sold five pounds of cocaine valued at $115,000.
Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested Peters of Chantilly, Va., at the Redskins' summer training camp in Carlisle, Pa., last month. He did not return to practice after his arrest.
Peters, a native of Oklahoma, played for Oklahoma University before joining the Cleveland Browns in 1975. The Redskins signed him four years later.
The alleged co-conspirators named with Peters and the Bray brothers are Ronald Wood Kirby, 38, of Capital Heights, Md.; Jose Cebada, 35, of Corona, N.Y., who is still at large; Thomas Valanidas, 35, of Port Republic, Md.; and William Burns, Jr., 29, of Lusby, Md.
On July 25, Rozelle suspended St. Louis linebacker E.J. Junior, New Orleans defensive back Greg Stemrick and two members of the Cincinnati Bengals, running back Pete Johnson and defensive end Ross Browner, through the first four weeks of the regular season for violating NFL drug policies regarding cocaine.
