San Fernando Valley : FALLEN CHAMP
Former world featherweight boxing champion Bobby Chacon was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on a felony charge of selling rock cocaine.
If convicted, Chacon faces up to five years in prison. But attorneys for both sides said it was likely that a plea bargain will be reached for Chacon, who suffers from debilitating memory loss and other mental problems as a result of his years in the boxing ring.
Chacon and Belinda Ortega, also known as Yolanda Maria Medina, were ordered to return Oct. 27 to be arraigned in San Fernando Superior Court.
Los Angeles Police Officer Roger Morales testified at the preliminary hearing for Chacon and Ortega that on Sept. 12 he asked the former fighter “for a 20,” street vernacular for a $20 bag of rock cocaine, on Tamarack Street in Pacoima.
Chacon, who was champion in 1974, never handled the 0.12 grams of cocaine or the money, Morales said. But Deputy Dist. Atty. Dale Cutler said Chacon “is clearly an abettor in the sale of drugs.”
Chacon’s attorney, David Kestenbaum, said the fighter is too damaged to be held responsible for dealing drugs.
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