Son of Michael Douglas Sentenced to Five Years on Drug Charges

Cameron Douglas, the 31-year-old son of the actor Michael Douglas, was sentenced to five years in prison on drug-related charges in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Tuesday.


In January, Mr. Douglas, a D.J. and an aspiring actor, pleaded guilty to charges that he distributed large quantities of methamphetamines and cocaine over a three-year period. He also pleaded guilty to possession of heroin, a charge that was brought while he was on house arrest and awaiting trial.

Judge Richard M. Berman also sentenced Mr. Douglas to five years of supervised release; the judge said that he was not obligated to follow federal sentencing guidelines, which normally would call for a 10-year sentence for such charges. Federal prosecutors did not challenge the sentence.



In court, Mr. Douglas wore a black suit with his hair combed back. He struck a humble tone in his remarks before the bench.

“If I would be so fortunate as to have another chance, I would never squander that opportunity,” Mr. Douglas said.

In letters to the judge, relatives painted a portrait of a lonely, troubled child whose parents were often absent or feuding and who turned to drugs at age 13. By the time of his arrest, Mr. Douglas was “an unemployed addict with a five-time-a-day heroin habit,” his lawyer Nicholas M. De Feis said in court.

“His dealing was simply the desperate act of an addict,” Mr. De Feis said. “This arrest has actually helped put him on the right track.”

Michael Douglas, who watched the sentencing from the second row in the gallery, had sent a five-page, handwritten note asking for empathy.

“I have some idea of the pressure of finding your own identity with a famous father,” he wrote.

The elder Mr. Douglas, 65, won an Oscar for his performance in the 1987 film “Wall Street” and appeared on the cover of the April issue of Vanity Fair to promote his new movie, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” which is scheduled for release this fall. He is the son of Kirk Douglas, who starred in the film “Spartacus.”

Mr. Douglas added that he cherished his weekly visits with his son at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Lower Manhattan.

“Judge Berman, I love my son, but I’m not blind to his actions,” Mr. Douglas wrote. “I do believe out of this adversity he will be a positive citizen. I don’t want to see him break.”

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