Ex-Red Wing Probert Faces Drug Charge

DETROIT — A federal grand jury has indicted Bob Probert on a felony charge of drug importation nearly three weeks after the former Detroit Red Wings forward allegedly tried to smuggle cocaine through the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.

If convicted, Probert, a Canadian citizen living in Detroit, could be banned from the nited States, according to Roman Rewald, a Detroit lawyer who specializes in immigration and international law.

Probert, 23, also faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1-million fine, but under federal sentencing guidelines, he would serve less than two years in prison.

Customs agents said they found 14 grams of cocaine in Probert’s underwear on March 2 as he tried to enter the United States from Canada. The Red Wings suspended Probert, but the National Hockey League expelled him two days later.

Ross Parker, head of the criminal division of the U.S. attorney’s office, said Tuesday he decided to charge Probert with a felony, because a “misdemeanor did not adequately represent the nature of his conduct.”