Redmond O'Neal headed back to jail after drug violation, authorities say
Redmond O'Neal, the son of the late Farrah Fawcett, is headed back to jail today after authorities said he violated the terms of his probation in connection with a series of drug offenses.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Tynan today sentenced O'Neal, the troubled son of actors Ryan O'Neal and Fawcett, to a 30-day, in-custody drug-treatment program.
Prosecutors said the violation was because of "a drug-related offense."
According to L.A. County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore, O'Neal was on a 24-hour pass from a residential treatment center. "When he came back, he told the program counselors that he had used drugs," Whitmore said. "He tested positive" for unspecified drugs.
O'Neal was remanded into sheriff's custody on Dec. 29, Whitmore said. O'Neal is currently classified as a "keep-away" -- kept away from the general jail population -- at Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles. His next court date is Feb. 10.
O'Neal was jailed last year after he was found in possession of heroin during a routine security check by deputies at the parking lot of the Pitchess Detention Center.
On Sept. 18, a judge sentenced O'Neal to three years formal probation and a six-year suspended sentence stemming from that case. He had been attending a court-ordered drug program.
The reported probation violation is the latest setback for O'Neal, after Fawcett's death last year from cancer.
In September 2008, he and his father were charged with felony drug possession after the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, conducting a search at Ryan O'Neal's Malibu home, reportedly found methamphetamine in the actor's bedroom and on the younger O'Neal.
At the time, O'Neal was on probation after a guilty plea earlier in 2008 to felony drug possession and misdemeanor driving under the influence. The charges stemmed from his arrest while driving in
Malibu carrying heroin and methamphetamine. His plea allowed him to avoid jail time.
-- Andrew Blankstein
Photo: Redmond O'Neal in a November 2008 appearance at a Malibu courthouse. Credit: Reed Saxon / Associated Press
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EDITOR'S PICKS:
Jail is not the answer for drug addicts!!!!
Posted by: Ted Parker | January 05, 2010 at 02:41 PM
Those 12-Step Religious Cult Programs & the Legal System will destroy this young man's life more than any drug ever will!
Posted by: August | January 05, 2010 at 03:02 PM
Maybe the 15th time will be a charm. Can't be to tough on these celeb's kids.
Posted by: sethook | January 05, 2010 at 03:40 PM
"keep-away" ? you think maybe if has was in the general population he might think about his drug abuse and make an effort to stay clean and want to stay out!! celeb kids are treated different than the rest .
Posted by: blueslady2 | January 06, 2010 at 09:02 AM
If he does not stop what he is doing, he is going to wind up dead like all these other young so called celebrities who have died young like Britiney Murphy, Heath Ledger and this Johnson girl.
Posted by: Mr. X | January 06, 2010 at 09:58 AM
Unfortunately, he will end up dead sooner or later. Because he has nobody that cares about him at all, now that his mother is dead. So don't be surprised. Unless they keep him in jail for a year or so.
Posted by: joanne | January 06, 2010 at 02:36 PM