Elijah Dukes was once a prospect of considerable promise in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. In 2006 he hit .293/.401/.488 with 10 home runs in just 80 games for Triple-A Durham, which got him ranked as the No. 79 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America.

Various legal troubles limited his major league time and Dukes last played in the major leagues in 2009 with the Nationals; in 2010 he played briefly for Newark in the Atlantic League, but did not play at all in 2011.

Early Thursday, Dukes was arrested again. Tampa Bay Times:

Former Rays outfielder Elijah Dukes was arrested early Thursday after he tried to eat a plastic bag of marijuana and had marijuana blunt tucked behind his ear, police said.

The article goes on to say that Dukes has been arrested five times in the last year on various charges; this arrest included the following list:

... tampering with physical evidence, possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and driving with a cancelled, suspended or revoked license.

It's really a shame. Dukes will be 28 in June and should be in the prime of his baseball career. Instead, he could be on his way to prison.