Actor Tom Sizemore tested positive for methamphetamine use because he was taking the prescription drug Eldepryl, which metabolizes as a substance similar to the highly addictive illegal drug, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The spokeswoman Nancy Selzer made her comments as prosecutors sought to to prove that the “Saving Private Ryan” actor violated his parole on a domestic abuse conviction by testing positive for methamphetamine use and for contacting his ex-girlfriend, former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss.
The 42-year-old actor was convicted in 2003 on charges of beating and threatening Fleiss.
Sizemore was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to complete a residential drug rehab program for an admitted addiction to crystal methamphetamine.
Prosecutors filed documents Monday accusing him of violating probation by phoning Fleiss and showing up at her home and for testing positive for methamphetamine use.
Prosecutor Robert Cha said Sizemore’s lawyer had filed a declaration from a doctor blaming the “dirty” test on his continued use of Eldepryl.
Cha said that Eldepryl is approved only for treatment of Parkinson’s disease and that subsequent tests showed that Sizemore had used methamphetamine.
Sizemore’s spokeswoman said the drug-positive test came as a result of his Eldepryl use but declined to say for what medical condition he was taking it, adding that he does not suffer from Parkinson’s.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Antonio Barreto Jr. has set a June 25 hearing at which Sizemore is expected to request a new trial.