Aug 3, 2007 4:29 pm US/Pacific
Brad Renfro: 'I'm Doing My Best' To Be Drug-Free
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
Actor Brad Renfro, who pleaded guilty last year to attempted heroin possession and is currently enrolled in a court-ordered rehabilitation program, told a judge Friday he is trying hard to remain drug-free.
"Your honor, I'm really doing my best," the 25-year-old former child star said during a status hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court.
"I want more than your best," Judge Dorothy B. Reyes told Renfro, who was discovered at age 10 and cast in "The Client."
The judge ordered him to return to court Sept. 18 for another progress report hearing.
"I want him to come back with some negative tests to show he is in compliance," Reyes told attorney Richard Kaplan, who represents Renfro.
She then warned Renfro: "When you come back September 18, make sure I have a ... glowing report."
Renfro was among 14 people arrested during a Dec. 22, 2005, police sting on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. During a span of a few hours, six undercover narcotics officers from the LAPD's Central Station sold balloons filled with fake heroin to people looking to buy the drug at Sixth and Spring Streets.
Renfro was placed on three years probation and entered a drug rehabilitation program.
He could face up to 18 months in prison if he violates the terms of his probation and requirements of Proposition 36. Passed by voters in November 2000, it allows probation and drug treatment in place of jail time for convictions for the personal possesion, use and transportation of controlled substances when the offenses do not involve violence.
Treatment usually involves residential or outpatient treatment, along with drug education programs. Proposition 36 also permits the dismissal of charges when treatment is completed, but requires disclosure of arrest and conviction to law enforcement.
"He's doing well so far," Kaplan said of his client, whose other movie credits include "The Cure" and "Tom and Huck."
"He's very focused and looking forward to getting back to work," his attorney said.
Renfro, whose drug-related run-ins with the law date back nearly a decade, was sentenced to 10 days in jail in an unrelated drunken driving case last March 8.
In 1998, he struck a plea bargain on cocaine and marijuana charges in his native Knoxville, Tenn., and agreed to undergo random drug screening.
He was also placed on probation in Florida in 2001 in connection with an attempt to steal a yacht, according to the Internet Movie Database.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
