Butler apologizes for 'mistake'

LIMA - Former Shawnee High School and Ohio State basketball star Jamar Butler apologized to the community for his recent drug arrest in a letter.

"I am not a good kid gone bad," Butler wrote in the letter, delivered Sunday to The Lima News by his father, Melton Butler. "I've never been in trouble before, and promise you I don't intend to be again. I will learn from this and will make myself a better man because of it."

Butler, 23, pleaded no contest to possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He was fined $150 and had his driver license suspended for six months, according to Lorain Municipal Court records.

Butler and another Lima man, Demetrius L. Upshaw, 22, were parked in a parking lot just before 9 p.m. Feb. 16. A Lorain Police officer spotted a suspicious car in a parking lot where police received numerous complaints and made past arrests for drug sales and abuse, according to a Lorain Police Department report.

In his letter, Butler wrote, "I know I've shocked and disappointed my family, friends and many of you who have supported me through the years."

Butler didn't directly address whether he used or possessed drugs in the letter.

Butler wrote that he understood he let down his fans in his letter, entitled "an open letter to my Lima/Allen County friends."

"I've enjoyed being a positive role model for younger kids - I assure you that I will be an even better one now," Butler wrote. "I believe that God works in all things - even our screw-ups - and I'm trusting in Him going forward."