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Brad Renfro gets drug rehab instead of prison

Actor will return to court to face DUI charge
/ Source: Reuters

A Los Angeles judge ordered actor Brad Renfro to enter a drug rehabilitation program Monday, after the former child film star pleaded guilty to attempted possession of heroin.

The 23-year-old actor, who starred in “The Client” and “Tom and Huck,” was arrested in December for trying to buy heroin during a police sting in downtown Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dorothy Reyes said Renfro was eligible for drug treatment, instead of a prison sentence, under a California law covering convictions for personal possession of drugs where no violence is involved.

Renfro will return to court Tuesday to face a charge of driving under the influence with a suspended license for a separate incident.

The Tennessee-born actor has had a number of brushes with the law in the last five years. He was placed on probation for trying to steal a yacht in Florida in 2000 and was arrested in 2002 for driving without a license and public intoxication.

Renfro made his film debut at age 12 in the 1994 thriller ”The Client” and gained notoriety the following year as the best friend of a young AIDS patient in “The Cure.” He also appeared in the 1996 movie “Sleepers.”