Chicagoan Nicole Bobek, once a skating star, allegedly key player in drug ring

Talk about huge falls from grace, this woman was a onetime worldwide skating star and Olympic champion who's now fallen completely in society's gutter as a major part of an methamphetamine drug distribution ring up in New Jersey, were she's now being jailed and facing 10 years in prison for her participation in this lowlife enterprise to say the least.

A long way from her skating roots back here in Chicago and certainly from the Olympic stage she once dominated.

Olympics blog | Los Angeles Times: "Chicagoan Nicole Bobek was one of the most gifted -- and troubled -- U.S. figure skaters of the past 20 years.

Her spiral was so eye-catchingly exquisite that Michelle Kwan emulated it, then refined it into her signature move.

But Bobek's life rarely was refined and often seemed to be spiraling downward with behavior that made her a poor man's Tonya Harding.

Now, at age 31, she may have hit bottom.

Monday, a New Jersey prosecutor said Bobek had played a `significant role'' in a drug ring that was allegedly involved in the distribution of methamphetamine. According to nj.com, the website of the Jersey Journal newspaper, prosecutor Edward DeFazio said Bobek ``was actively involved in the upper echelon in this thing.''

Until Monday, Bobek's name had not been publicly linked to the case, for which 19 arrests were announced June 20, because she had not been taken into custody, according to the prosecutor. She was arrested in Florida, where she lists a residence." continued

Related articles around the web

• Former Skating Champ Bobek Charged in Meth Bust (nytimes.com)
• Former figure skating champion Nicole Bobek charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine (sports.espn.go.com)
• Figure skater Bobek charged in meth bust (thestar.com)