BANGOR (AP) – Former Maine linebacker Stephen Cooper was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to one year of probation for possession of anabolic steroids and was fined $200.
As part of his probation, Cooper must perform 100 hours of community service, of which at least 25 must be spent talking to high school students about the dangers of taking steroids.
Cooper, 23, of Wareham, Mass., pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor count last December, the day after he was named to The Associated Press Division I-AA All-America team.
He said he had planned to use the pills after the season ended to bulk up for a career in the NFL and that he did not use performance-enhancing drugs while at Maine.
The steroids came to light after a state trooper stopped the vehicle Cooper was riding in for speeding Nov. 1 on Interstate 95 in Hampden. When a search of the vehicle turned up more than 1,200 pills, Cooper admitted that the pills were his and that they were steroids.
Anabolic steroids, which are used to increase muscle mass, are illegal unless prescribed by a doctor for medical reasons. Their use is banned by the NCAA.
The university, which let Cooper play in four games after the discovery of the pills, did not violate NCAA rules because the player was accused of possessing the pills, not actually ingesting them.
Cooper’s case was the second off-field distraction for Maine.
Earlier, starting wide receivers Paris Minor and Stefan Gomes were kicked off the team and suspended from the university after being accused of raping a woman at an off-campus apartment.
The players, who maintained that the sex was consensual, were not charged. They have since transferred to Tennessee-Martin.
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