Former skating champ posts bail, faces meth charge

TRENTON, N.J. -- Former U.S. figure skating champion Nicole Bobek would never do anything criminal, the skater's mother said Wednesday, two days after her 31-year-old daughter was released from jail on a drug charge.

However, Jana Bobek also said her daughter liked to party and may be in trouble because of the company she keeps.

"If she is in some kind of trouble, she is probably in some trouble because she got in with the wrong company. I do strongly believe she would never do anything criminal," Jana Bobek told The Associated Press.

"Did she party? Probably, yes," Bobek's mother said. "I know she's a wonderful person and she has a very good heart and a lot of time that's been taken advantage of."

Nicole Bobek, who has homes in New York City and Jupiter, Fla., has been charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Hudson County. She was arrested in Florida last week and extradited to New Jersey.

Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said 20 people have been arrested in connection with the drug ring. He did not return a call for comment on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old Bobek made her first court appearance Monday by video from the Hudson County Jail and posted bail later that night after it was reduced from $200,000 to $100,000 cash or bond.

Neither Nicole Bobek nor her attorney, Sam DeLuca, returned calls Wednesday.

Bobek won the women's U.S. figure skating title in 1995.

If convicted of the drug charges, she faces up to 10 years in prison.

"It's very upsetting to me," Jana Bobek said. "She's my only child."