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'El Wingador' charged with dealing cocaine

Bill "El Wingador" Simmons, five-time champion of the Wing Bowl, sports-talk radio station WIP's annual competitive wing-eating bacchanalia, was being held in the Gloucester County Jail on Tuesday afternoon after his arrest Friday on drug-distribution charges.

El Wingador, who in real life is retired 50-year-old truck driver Bill Simmons (CQ - HE WAS ALSO CALLED BOB ON THE PHOTO ASSIGNMENT BUT IT IS BILL) from Woodbury Heights, has now retired also from competitive eating, after being a five-time WIng Bowl champ. He is trying to sell a reality show, "America's Biggest Eater", in which he would be an adviser to gluttonous competitive eaters. He holds up a 4XL T-shirt that is even too big for him. ( Charles Fox / Staff Photographer ) JWING23P, 2/16/2012, BILL SIMMONS (CQ), 334 IVY DRIVE, WOODBURY HEIGHTS, NJ
El Wingador, who in real life is retired 50-year-old truck driver Bill Simmons (CQ - HE WAS ALSO CALLED BOB ON THE PHOTO ASSIGNMENT BUT IT IS BILL) from Woodbury Heights, has now retired also from competitive eating, after being a five-time WIng Bowl champ. He is trying to sell a reality show, "America's Biggest Eater", in which he would be an adviser to gluttonous competitive eaters. He holds up a 4XL T-shirt that is even too big for him. ( Charles Fox / Staff Photographer ) JWING23P, 2/16/2012, BILL SIMMONS (CQ), 334 IVY DRIVE, WOODBURY HEIGHTS, NJRead more
    by By Angelo Fichera, Inquirer Staff Writer
    Published 

Bill "El Wingador" Simmons, five-time champion of the Wing Bowl, sports-talk radio station WIP's annual competitive wing-eating bacchanalia, was being held in the Gloucester County Jail on Tuesday afternoon after his arrest Friday on drug-distribution charges.

After a monthlong investigation by the county Prosecutor's Office and New Jersey state police, the 50-year-old Woodbury Heights resident was arrested in Harrison Township.

State police stopped and searched Simmons and his 2010 Kia Soul, a vehicle emblazoned with his celebrity moniker. Officials said the search yielded $8,000 worth of powdered cocaine and $4,000 in cash.

Investigators also searched two residences in Woodbury Heights linked to Simmons. A small "personal use" amount of cocaine alleged to belong to him was found in a residence not owned by Simmons, a spokesperson for the state police said.

Simmons was unable to post $100,000 cash bail, authorities said. It was not immediately clear whether he had secured a lawyer.

His "El Wingador" persona had grown since he began competing in 1999 at the Wing Bowl: He has licensed wings under his brand name, appeared in KFC commercials, and sells a home-recipe barbecue sauce.

"You aren't going to get rich on sauce," Simmons told The Inquirer in a March interview, "but this is my special recipe, with no oil and no butter, and [with] pureed vegetables. It's great, as you may imagine, on wings."

The 6-foot-5, 330-pound former truck driver left the competition after winning in 2005. He returned in 2011, taking second and third place respectively in the last two bowls.