A Beverly Hills socialite whose weight-loss pills were blamed for the banned-substance suspensions of seven NFL players in 2008 has copped a plea to federal drug misbranding charges.
Nikki Haskell — a St. Tropez regular and a bridesmaid at Ivana Trump’s last wedding — faces up to a year in jail and possibly fines of up to $100,000 after pleading guilty Wednesday in Manhattan federal court to misdemeanor charges connected with the sale of her StarCap pills. The product secretly contained bumetanide, a diuretic with dangerous side effects that has been banned by the NFL and other sports leagues for being a steroid-masking agent which helps users beat drug tests.
The 72-year-old Haskell claims she didn’t know StarCaps contained bumetanide and that the ingredient was added by the product’s manufacturer in Peru.
StarCap had boasted itself as an “all-natural blend of garlic and papaya from the higher Andes of Peru.”
Haskell is apparently the biggest victim of the NFL’s drug-testing policy. She filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and then told Page Six she blamed it on being sued by former NFL offensive guard Jamar Nesbit.
He was suspended for four games in 2008 after claiming he took the product, and then sued Haskell for $750,000 in lost wages and damages.
Haskell also listed in her bankruptcy filings potential multimillion-dollar claims by the NFL, players and teams including the Saints, Vikings, Falcons and Texans.
She’s set to be sentenced June 30.