Ex-teen idol Garrett jailed over drugs

05/12/2006 3:18 PM, Reuters


Former teen idol Leif Garrett has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years probation on charges stemming from drug possession.

Garrett, 44, was sentenced late on Thursday in Los Angeles after opting out of a drug treatment program. He has been in a Los Angeles County jail since March 30 after failing a court-ordered drug test and will get credit for time served.

His attorney, Andrew Flier, told reporters after the sentencing that Garrett was free of drugs, but he felt the treatment program was too restrictive and that he would be able to live without drugs once he was out of jail.

Garrett was arrested in downtown Los Angeles in January this year and charged with heroin possession. In March 2005, he pleaded guilty plea to attempted possession of cocaine-based narcotics and was placed on probation.

He was arrested in Los Angeles in 1999 on charges of trying to buy drugs from undercover officers. In 1979, he was behind the wheel of a car that plunged down a hillside and left his passenger paralyzed.

The former pop music star was a teen idol in the 1970s, recording music, appearing on covers of magazines like Tiger Beat and acting on television and in movies.

Reuters/VNU