Former figure skating champion Nicole Bobek shocked the nation when she was arrested for being involved with a meth dealing operation. Now, Bobek has been sentenced for her involvement. INSIDE EDITION reports.
"I'm very sorry for everything I've done," Nicole Bobek told a judge.
The former Olympic figure skater was in tears as she was sentenced for her role in a methamphetamine ring.
Bobek received five years probation and community service, but no jail time. What was her mother's reaction? Jana Bobek posted a troubling message on Facebook: "Nicole is free as a bird. the party is sunday at my house. everyone is invited."
The former champion appeared on the Today show to talk about her sentence and tried to explain her dramatic fall from grace:
"I want to thank God and also my mother, who's my best friend and has been by my side through this whole ordeal [...] There was a time in my life where I went through a lot of loss...the death of my aunt, my coach...heartbreak – I am human."
Bobek was the U.S. figure skating champion in 1995, and the nation's best hope for figure skating gold at the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano. But she finished a disappointing 17th.
She had lucrative endorsement deals and even landed a role in the 2002 remake of All the King's Men.
But Bobek had started to show her dark side. In 2009, she was accused of moving $10,000 worth of meth a week. In her mug shot, she looked nothing like the blonde teenager that the country had fallen in love with.
Bobek told Today, "I was in a complete haze. I was not under the influence when that [mug shot] was taken but I was absolutely a different person."
"I plan to change my life around and do something with it," she told the court.
The judge gave Bobek a stern warning. If she fails a drug test during her probation she will be sent to jail for 10 years.