Schlichter Going Back To Indy

May 19, 2000 / 12:09 AM EDT / CBS/AP

Art Schlichter was ordered back to Indiana on Friday to face money laundering charges, a day after the ex-quarterback was arrested in a restaurant while making a phone call.

Schlichter, whose gambling has brought him legal trouble for almost two decades, waived his right to contest a transfer during a hearing.

He was charged with money laundering in Indianapolis on Monday and evaded authorities until Thursday evening, when he was arrested by federal marshals in Ravenna, 25 miles from Cleveland.

Dressed in a gray sweatshirt with the faded words "Property of Purdue" on the front, the former Ohio State star answered "Yes, sir," when U.S. Magistrate Gallas asked if he understood the charge and waiver.

Gallas said Schlichter claimed to be indigent and assigned him a public defender. Gallas urged that Schlichter be returned to Indiana within two weeks.

Prosecutors say Schlichter, 40, accepted advance payments for tickets to sports events he could not obtain, then tried to repay the money by making unauthorized charges on his father's credit cards.

Schlichter had been staying with a childhood friend on a farm in Windham, said Steven Prosser, deputy U.S. marshal for the Southern District of Indiana. It was not clear how Schlichter was tracked to the restaurant.

Ethyl Hahn, manager of the family-style restaurant, said Friday that Schlichter kept asking if a call had come for him. Finally, he went to a pay phone. About six marshals surrounded and handcuffed him.

"Well, it looks like I have to go. The U.S. marshals are here for me," deputy U.S. Marshal Mark Robinett quoted Schlichter as saying.

Schlichter also faces charges in the Columbus suburb of Grove City for allegedly using someone else's credit card to try to obtain cash.

Earlier this month, Schlichter was accused of driving a car at a motorcycle police officer after a routine traffic stop in Columbus. He was free on bail while facing charges of illegal gambling while in an Indiana prison.

He also is accused of violating his probation by not making daily visits to Hoch Correctional Consultants and Services in Indianapolis since April 28.

If convicted on the federal charges, Schlichter faces up to 20 years in prison. He faces five years on the Ohio felony charge.

Schlichter, a first-round draft pick by the then-Baltimore Colts in 1982, was suspended by the NFL in 1983 when it was learned bookies threatened him for more than $150,000 in gambling debts.

In 1984, Schlichter returned to the Colts, who by then had relocated to Indianapolis. He was released after the 1985 season.

Schlichter was freed from an Indiana prison last September after serving less than half of a four-year sentence on charges of theft, forgery and fraud in connection with the theft of $800,000 to support his gambling.

Since his release, he has been charged with using an Indiana prison's pay phones t bet on football and hockey.

Before beginning his Indiana prison term, Schlichter served a federal sentence in Kentucky for probation violation. Schlichter's gambling dates to his days at Ohio State from 1978 to 1982.

Last month, he told Ohio State football players that his troubles escalated when he wasn't playing football, causing emotional pain.

"I used gambling to ease that pain, much as an alcoholic would do with a drink," he said.