Chuck Muncie Jailed After Testing Positive for Drugs

Former National Football League running back Chuck Muncie was jailed after testing positive for drug use while awaiting sentencing on a federal cocaine charge.

“I have nothing to say. Leave it the way it is,” the three-time all-pro said Wednesday as he entered the downtown San Diego federal courthouse.

Muncie, 35, had been free on $20,000 bond since pleading guilty Dec. 12 to intending to sell two ounces of cocaine to a friend. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 13.

U.S. District Judge J. Lawrence Irving had ordered Muncie to surrender or face arrest by federal marshals after he failed to show up for a Wednesday afternoon status hearing on his case.

When defense attorney Cindy Aaron arrived two hours later, he told the judge that Muncie had voluntarily checked into a San Diego drug detoxification and counseling center Wednesday morning, and asked that court proceedings be delayed two months to allow treatment.

“It’s too little too late,” Irving responded.

Muncie was last ordered into court by Irving on Jan. 13 because two random drug tests taken after he entered his guilty plea revealed traces of cocaine in his system, which would be in violation of his bail terms.

A follow-up test was ordered after Aaron produced a letter from Muncie’s doctor saying regular injections of Xylocaine and cortisone he had been receiving for football injuries made the drug tests unreliable.

Irving noted that while under oath during the Jan. 13 hearing, Muncie testified that he hadn’t used illegal drugs since 1985. Assistant U.S. Atty. Pat Swan said outside court that prosecutors are evaluating whether to charge Muncie with perjury because of that statement.

Muncie, whose played for New Orleans, San Diego and Minnesota during his 10-year pro career, also faces a Feb. 23 sentencing in Municipal Court for admittedly violating terms of probation granted in 1987 after he pleaded guilty to not filing a California income tax return for 1983.

A San Diego resident since retiring from professional football in 1984 amid a cloud of drug problems.