Digital Bulletin

06:27 PM EDT on Tuesday, June 13, 2006

By JOHN E. MULLIGAN
Journal Washington bureau

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy pleaded guilty this afternoon to a charge of driving under the influence of prescription drugs when he crashed his car into a Capitol Hill security barrier last month.

The Rhode Island Democrat was given a 10-day suspended jail sentence and one year of probation. His driver's license was also suspended for six months.

AP photo

Rep. Patrick Kennedy is accompanied by Rep. Jim Ramstad, his AA sponsor, as he leaves Superior Court in Washington, D.C., today.

The judge in Superior Court of the District of Columbia also ordered the 38-year-old scion of the nation's most famous political family to perform 50 hours of community service and to pay $350 in fines.

The terms of his probation also require Kennedy to:

- Attend one meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings each week

- Submit to random urine screenings for drugs

- Have weekly contact with his AA sponsor

- Have monthly treatment sessions with a doctor at Bethesda Naval Hospital

- Stay in touch with a psychiatrist, for monitoring of mood systems, anxiety and use of psychotropic prescription medication, and

- Attend weekly recovery group meetings in addition to the AA meeting.

Superior Court Judge Aida Melendez also warned Kennedy that if he violates any of the terms of the agreement, he will have to serve the 10 days in jail.

Two other misdemeanor charges were dismissed: reckless driving and failure to exhibit a driving permit.

After the sentencing, the congressman briefly addressed the press outside the courthouse.

"I accepted the consequences of my actions," Kennedy said. "I look forward today to moving on with the next chapter of my life...I am very grateful to be on the road to recovery."

Kennedy, son of U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, spent nearly a month in rehab after the accident and has since returned to Washington.

In the early morning hours of May 4, Kennedy crashed his speeding Mustang convertible into a security barrier, leading police at the scene to report that he may have been drinking. The six-term congressman has denied drinking any alcohol, but acknowledged being on several medications, including the sleep-inducing drug Ambien, and a prescription stomache-ache drug.

The U.S. Capitol Police cited Kennedy for "unreasonable speed" and other infractions but did not test him for alcohol impairment before driving him from the accident scene near the Capitol to his home a few blocks away. Kennedy said he sought no preferential treatment.

According to the terms outlined today by Judge Melendez, Kennedy is required to perform 50 hours of community service with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. He was also ordered to pay $250 to the clubs, and another $100 to the Victim's Crime Fund.

He appeared in the court hearing in a navy blue suit and did not smile during the 20-minute hearing. He answered the judge with simple phrases, such as "Yes, your honor." His longest statement was "I am pleading guilty to driving under the influence."

Kennedy did not take questions at the press conference after the court hearing. But before it concluded, he introduced U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, a Minnesota Republican and recovering alcoholic of 25 years, who has agreed to be Kennedy's AA sponsor.

"He accepted his addiction and he's on the road to recovery, one day at a time," Ramstad said of Kennedy.

Thirty-six hours after the accident, Kennedy announced he was entering rehab at the Mayo Clinic's addiction center in Minnesota and acknowledged, in an interview with The Journal, that he has been a pain-pill abuser and a binge drinker for much of his adult life.

It was the second time in five months that Kennedy sought treatment at the Mayo Clinic.

Kennedy made his first public appearance after his stay on June 5 for a speech at Brown University. He was greeted with applause by many of those in attendance, including U.S. Rep. James Langevin, a fellow Rhode Island Democrat, and U.S. Senate candidate Sheldon Whitehouse.

But he also faced tough questions from the media. While he emphasized his willingness to face the legal consequences of the accident and confirmed that "I've had alcoholism and addiction, " he said "I'm positive" that "alcohol was not involved in my accident."

Kennedy, who disclosed several years ago that he suffers from manic depression, also acknowledged that his drug abuse, drinking and mental illness - in one combination or another -- had figured in several controversial episodes over the years. One example: Kennedy's run-in at Los Angeles International Airport in 2000, when he pushed a security guard who had instructed him to have a bag inspected.

Kennedy is up for re-election this fall. He faces a challenge from Republican Edmund R. Leather of East Providence, a retired Foreign Service officer.

“[Kennedy] should resign, take care of himself, for his own good," Leather said this afternoon. "He's going to be under pressure in his job, the pressure of representing Rhode Island, and he's going to collapse under it, again."

Leather believes the incident will not fade away as the campaign intensifies in the coming months.

"Of course it's an election issue," Leather said. "I wouldn't go to a doctor who was a substance abuser. I wouldn't go to a lawyer who was a substance abuser...I'm going to have a congressman who's a substance abuser?"

A spokesman for the Rhode Island Republican Party said today he’s “not necessarily surprised” about Kennedy’s arrangement with prosecutors.

“This whole case has been riddled with exceptional handling. And maybe that’s just one of the benefits of being a congressman,” GOP communications director Chuck Newton said early this afternoon. “The test is, would you or I have gotten the same deal? I don’t know. But I suspect not.”

Newton said he had concerns about the impact of the criminal charge on Kennedy's run for re-election even before today's announcement.

“A traffic ticket so to speak, doesn’t necessarily disqualify you from public office,” he said. “Our concern all along has been whether Patrick Kennedy, given his addiction, can fulfill his responsibilities as a congressman.”

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a fellow R.I. Democrat, issued a statement this afternoon praising Kennedy for working out a deal with prosecutors.

"Congressman Kennedy forthrightly accepted responsibility for his actions," Reed said. "I look forward to continuing to work with him for the betterment of Rhode Island."

A spokeswoman for fellow Congressman Langevin said he supports Kennedy's effort to resolve the situation. "Congressman Kennedy all along said he was going to take full responsibility and it looks like today that’s what he’s done,” spokeswoman Joy Fox said today.

-- With reports from projo.com staff writer Steve Peoples