Singer Courtney Love Pleads Guilty to Drug Offense
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Closing one chapter in a troubled period in her life, rock star Courtney Love pleaded guilty on Tuesday to being under the influence of cocaine and agreed to enter drug treatment.
Under the plea deal reached in Los Angeles Superior Court, the 39-year-old former lead singer for Hole will be spared any jail time and have the conviction removed from her record if she completes the treatment program, prosecutors said.
In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop a charge of disorderly conduct stemming from her arrest last October.
If she fails to complete the program or violates the terms of her probation, the singer will be required to serve at least 90 days in jail, prosecutor Jerry Baik said.
The terms of her probation will be outlined at a July 16 sentencing hearing. The singer likely will be required to submit to random drug testing and to report regularly to drug counseling and to a county probation officer, Baik said.
“It’s not an unbearable program. It’s something that can do more benefit to her than hurt her,” Baik said outside court.
Love, who came to court in a flowered dress and high-heeled shoes with her platinum blond hair tousled, had no comment about the case.
She spoke little during the 10-minute hearing, answering Judge Patricia Schnegg’s questions in soft monosyllables. When asked for her plea, she replied: “Guilty.”
The plea agreement resolves one of two criminal cases filed against Love in connection with her Oct. 2 arrest outside a boyfriend’s Los Angeles home, where police found her breaking windows in the middle of the night.
Hours later, Love was treated at a local hospital for what police described as a “medical emergency” — an incident that led to separate charges of illegal possession of the prescription painkiller OxyContin.
She also faces criminal charges in New York, where she was arrested in March after throwing a microphone stand into a nightclub audience and hitting a man in the head.
Love is the widow of late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, who committed suicide in 1994. She was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1997 for her role in “The People Vs. Larry Flynt.”
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