PATRICK KENNEDY PLEADS GUILTY TO DUI, GETS PROBATION

Washington -- Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., pleaded guilty Tuesday to
a charge of driving under the influence of prescription drugs in a
plea bargain with prosecutors stemming from a middle-of-the-night
incident last month in which he nearly sideswiped a police cruiser.

District of Columbia Superior Court Magistrate Judge Aida Melendez
placed the six-term congressman on supervised probation for a year.
He was ordered to attend weekly meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous,
confer regularly with a psychiatrist, submit to random urine tests
and contribute $100 to a crime victims fund and $250 to the Boys and
Girls Club of Greater Washington, where he will also do 50 hours of
community service.

If Kennedy violates the terms of his probation, she added, he will go
to jail for 10 days and pay a fine.

"I've always said I wanted to take full responsibility for my
actions, and today in court I did just that," Kennedy said after his
sentence was announced. "I accepted the consequences of my actions.
.. I'm grateful to be on the road to recovery."

Kennedy, 38, has said he has struggled with depression and drug
addiction since he was a teenager. He was treated for cocaine abuse
after graduating from high school.