Former United States figure skating champion Nicole Bobek has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute crystal methamphetamine and faces from probation to five years in prison for her role in a major Hudson County drug ring, officials said yesterday.

"I think it's appropriate based on all the evidence we had in this case in terms of her part in it," said Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Lisa Ledoux of the plea made Wednesday by the onetime Olympic hopeful who has a boutique in Juniper, Fla., where she lives.

Over numerous phone calls with the main figure in the probe, Edward Cruz Jr., 40, of Belleville, Bobek arranged to distribute crystal methamphetamine to him and actually did sell him an eighth of an ounce of the destructive drug, Ledoux said.

Cruz picked up the drugs in New York City, where Bobek had an apartment, and brought them back to New Jersey for distribution in Hudson and Essex counties, Ledoux said.

Bobek won the U.S. figure-skating title in 1995 and was third in the World Championships the same year, but she finished a disappointing 17th in the 1998 Winter Olympics at Nagano, Japan.

After her arrest, Bobek organized a workout class for fellow female inmates during her stay at Hudson County jail in Kearny from July 4 to July 6. She described the accommodations as "four-star" compared to the Florida jail where she was first held after her arrest, inmates told The Jersey Journal.

During a jailhouse interview, one of the inmates said Bobek told her she enjoyed skating, but her life went in a different direction and she regretted it. Even so, Bobek told the prisoner, "she was hopeful." Bobek even made tube tops for the inmates out of T-shirts before being released on bail.

The third-degree crime Bobek pleaded guilty to carries a possible sentence of 3 to 5 years in prison, but she could be sentenced to probation because she has no record. When sentenced by Hudson County Superior Court Judge Kevin Callahan on Aug. 5, prosecutors will recommend Bobek serve 364 days at the Hudson County jail. She faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted at trial.

There were 28 people charged in the probe that netted Bobek, and 23 have already pleaded guilty, Ledoux said. Officials said the ring took in about $10,000 per week in Hudson County.

Bobek's mother, Jana Bobek, attended the plea hearing, at which the skater was represented by Jersey City attorney Sam DeLuca.

Cruz has also pleaded guilty and faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced by Callahan on July 15.