http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/philip-seymour-hoffman-friend-robert-wineberg-avoids-jail-1.2749896
A friend of Philip Seymour Hoffman who was arrested after the actor's overdose death pleaded guilty on Thursday to a low-level drug charge in a deal that spared him jail time.
Robert Vineberg was ordered to serve five years of probation, continue drug treatment and forfeit $1,284 US that police seized at his home two days after Hoffman died.
The guilty plea to drug possession came after prosecutors dropped a more serious charge accusing Vineberg of possessing 300 packets of heroin with the intent to sell it.
Vineberg, a 58-year-old saxophonist who's played on sessions for David Bowie and Amy Winehouse, among others, was born and raised in Montreal but has been in the United States for most of his adult life.
A conviction could have resulted in jail time and possible deportation.
© The Associated Press, 2014
A friend of Philip Seymour Hoffman who was arrested after the actor's overdose death pleaded guilty on Thursday to a low-level drug charge in a deal that spared him jail time.
Robert Vineberg was ordered to serve five years of probation, continue drug treatment and forfeit $1,284 US that police seized at his home two days after Hoffman died.
The guilty plea to drug possession came after prosecutors dropped a more serious charge accusing Vineberg of possessing 300 packets of heroin with the intent to sell it.
Vineberg, a 58-year-old saxophonist who's played on sessions for David Bowie and Amy Winehouse, among others, was born and raised in Montreal but has been in the United States for most of his adult life.
A conviction could have resulted in jail time and possible deportation.
© The Associated Press, 2014