Redmond O’Neal sent back to jail’s not-so-warm embrace

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Back in September, when Redmond O’Neal was moved from jail into in-patient rehab, his attorney advised us all, via People, that ‘Redmond has embraced recovery.’

But in ordering the son of Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O’Neal back behind bars today on a probation violation, a judge clearly disagreed.

‘It seems to me you haven’t got a clue as to what recovery means,’ Judge Michael Tynan said. ‘It’s a lifetime commitment. It’s grinding, hard, painful work.’

Why is Redmond being sent back to jail? O’Neal had been on a 24-hour pass from a residential treatment center, L.A. County sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore told L.A. Now. ‘When he came back, he told the program counselors that he had used drugs,’ Whitmore said. ‘He tested positive’ for unspecified drugs.

So, it was more like giving recovery a hearty clap on the back, rather than a full-on embrace?

Redmond had pleaded guilty in February 2008 on charges of DUI and felony possession of meth and heroin. While he was on probation, Redmond and dad Ryan were booked on on suspicion of narcotics possession in September 2008 after a probation search that was conducted at Ryan’s Malibu home. Ryan pleaded guilty and got the option of completing a drug-diversion program. Redmond was sentenced to three years’ formal probation and a six-year suspended sentence.

Then Redmond was jailed last year after he was found with heroin during a routine security check by deputies at the parking lot of the Pitchess Detention Center.

(Takeaway wisdom -- don’t bring drugs with you when you visit someone who’s in jail. Just a thought.)

Though incarcerated, Redmond had been allowed out to visit his mother, Farrah, while she was dying of cancer, but he learned of her death while back behind bars.

We’re not going to delve into the whole deal where Ryan and Griffin O’Neal allegedly got into a scuffle at the Malibu house involving a gun and a fireplace poker, because (a) it doesn’t have much to do with Redmond and (b) now our head hurts.

Redmond’s next court date is Feb. 10.

-- Christie D’Zurilla

Related O’Neal and Fawcett family dispatches endorsed by the Ministry of Gossip:

Ryan O’Neal gets zero, zip, zilch, nada from Farrah Fawcett’s estate

Farrah Fawcett, forever a generation’s favorite pinup

Appreciation: Fawcett leaves a legacy larger than her roles

Ryan O’Neal, son Redmond booked on suspicion of drug possession

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