Judge: Ex-Hog stays free despite failed drug tests
Former Razorback and NFL running back Cedric Cobbs, indicted in October alongside 32 other people with conspiring to participate in an oxycodone distribution ring in the Eastern District of Arkansas, found himself back in front of a federal judge Tuesday.
Citing three positive drug screens in November, federal prosecutors asked U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray to revoke a recognizance bond on which Cobbs has remained free since Oct. 23, when he agreed he would adhere to rules applying to pretrial defendants who are permitted to remain free, but under supervision, until trial. Prosecutors said that on three occasions — Nov. 5, Nov. 17 and Nov. 21 — urine tests taken when Cobbs was ordered to report to the pretrial services office showed he had traces of marijuana or cocaine in his system.
Cobbs, 33, told the judge that he has “not touched marijuana” since he started outpatient drug treatment but that he did use cocaine twice since his arrest — once by accident and the next time on purpose.
Cobbs said he didn’t realize that someone had put cocaine inside a marijuana cigarette he smoked sometime before the first positive drug screen. But he admitted snorting a line of cocaine after that, even though he said he had never used the drug before trying it accidentally. He said he didn’t know why
he would test positive for either substance Nov. 21 except that the cocaine revealed in the Nov. 17 test must have still been in his system.
Although the judge said the drug typically remains in someone’s body for 72 hours after it’s ingested, Cobbs said his own research showed that some people retain it in their system a day or two longer.
Cobbs said he has smoked marijuana since he was 20 and that the only reason he knowingly used cocaine once in November was because “I was having fun, I was around some girls. They were doing it, so I did it with them.”
He said he has a marijuana addiction but strongly denied he has a cocaine addiction. He said he hoped the judge would increase his outpatient treatments for marijuana use but said he didn’t believe he needed inpatient treatment. He also said he has stopped hanging out with friends who are bad influences, that he is focused on seeing his children more often and that he has signed up as a participant in a drug-addiction study.
His drug test Tuesday was clean, a probation officer told the judge.
Ray said he found it hard to believe that someone could “accidentally” ingest cocaine and that he found it especially hard to believe someone would willingly snort a line of cocaine after an initial accidental dose while on pretrial release and subject to random drug testing. He said he was worried that Cobbs can’t control his drug addiction despite receiving regular outpatient treatment.
“All this suggests he needs way more than outpatient treatment,” Ray said.
But the judge agreed with defense attorney Jonathan Lane’s request that he give Cobbs “one more shot.” Lane noted that it had been “less than a month” since Cobbs’ pretrial obligations began and that he’s “asking to double his outpatient treatment.”
“At this point, Mr. Cobbs, if you genuinely believe you can stay off drugs while in intense outpatient treatment, I’m going to give you a second chance,” said Ray, add- ing, “I don’t believe you will make it.”
Ray promised Cobbs that if he tests positive again for any illegal substances, “I will lock you up for 12 to 18 months.”
He also told the former Razorback to continue trying to get a job, noting, “I want you providing child support.”
A 78-count indictment alleges that Cobbs and 32 other people conspired between June 2013 and Oct. 7 to sell oxycodone pills. Authorities reported seizing “a large quantity” of the pills, as well as $21,000 from sales of the drugs, during the investigation.
Cobbs played for the Razorbacks from 1999 to 2003 and was drafted a year later by the New England Patriots. From 2005-2006, he played for the Denver Broncos, and in 2008, he began playing for the Arkansas Twisters arena football team.