TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Former major league pitcher Dwight Gooden has been ordered to three years of probation for fleeing from a Florida police officer.
Hillsborough County (Fla.) Circuit Judge William Fuente sentenced Gooden, 41, to three years probation and 100 hours of community service after the former Yankee and Met hurler admitted his guilt.
The admission was part of a plea deal involving charges of reckless driving, opposing a police officer without violence, felony fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer in an incident about two months ago. The plea deal calls for Gooden to speak to schools and Little League baseball groups about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse, the St. Petersburg Times said.
Gooden's appearance before Fuente was the first of two at the courthouse Thursday. Gooden also pleaded guilty to a domestic battery charge from March as part of a separate plea deal.
