Pele's son's troubles increase

2005-06-29 10:56

Sao Paulo, Brazil - Edson Cholbi Nascimento, the son of soccer hero Pele has been transferred to a maximum security prison on Tuesday to await trial on drug related charges that could earn him a 15-year jail sentence.

Nascimento, better known as Edinho was one of 50 people arrested June 6 in an operation to dismantle a drug gang operating in and around the port of Santos, 70 kilometers (43 kilometers) southeast of Sao Paulo.

Since his arrest, the 35-year-old Nascimento had been locked up in a cell inside the building housing the Narcotics Division of the Sao Paulo police department, while authorities decided which prison to send him to.

His lawyer, Antonio Claudio Mariz de Oliveira and police agreed he would be safer in a maximum security facility.

Involved with a gang

Nascimento allegedly was involved with a gang linked to an organized crime group and it was feared that in any other kind of prison, members of rival gangs might want to kill him.

For security reasons, police would not reveal the name and location of the penitentiary Nascimento was taken to.

Shortly after his arrest Nascimento issued a statement saying he was a drug user not a drug trafficker.

He said began using drugs out of curiosity after he quit professional soccer and regretted having set a bad example.

Nascimento was a second-choice goalkeeper for eight years on Santos, his father's former club. He retired from professional soccer in 1999.

The same year, Nascimento was convicted of vehicular homicide for taking part in a 1992 car race on a city street that killed a motorcyclist.

He was sentenced to six years in a work-release program.

- AP