Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Kennedy pleads guilty to DUI as part of plea deal

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 14, 2006

WASHINGTON - A judge sentenced Rep. Patrick Kennedy to drug treatment and a year's probation after he pleaded guilty Tuesday to driving under the influence of prescription drugs.

Kennedy, D-R.I., will also pay $350 in connection with his middle-of-the-night car crash last month near the Capitol that he has said he has no memory of.

Two other charges against Kennedy were dismissed as part of a plea deal: reckless driving and failure to exhibit a driving permit.

Kennedy, the son of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., was accompanied by his lawyer as he entered his plea Tuesday afternoon before District of Columbia Superior Court Magistrate Judge Aida Melendez.

"I am pleading guilty to driving under the influence," he said.

Melendez ordered Kennedy to undergo court-monitored drug treatment and pay $350 - $250 of which would go to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, and $100 to a crime victims' fund.

She also gave Kennedy a 10-day jail sentence that was suspended unless he violates probation, and she ordered him to serve 50 hours of community service with the boys and girls club.

"I've always said that I wanted to accept full responsibility for my actions," Kennedy said outside the courthouse. "Today in court, I did just that. I accepted the consequences of my actions. I look forward today to moving on to the next chapter in my life."

[Last modified June 14, 2006, 07:17:19]