Troubled actress Tatum O’Neal can stay out of jail if she goes into a drug-treatment program and keeps her nose clean, a Manhattan judge said yesterday.
The Oscar-winner pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in connection with her cocaine arrest in lower Manhattan last month, and the charge will be dropped if she spends two half-days in a drug-treatment program, pays a $95 fee and stays out of trouble.
O’Neal, 44, could have faced up to a year behind bars if convicted of the original charge, criminal possession of a controlled substance.
“I’m just glad I got the deal I got,” a relieved O’Neal beamed after her court appearance. “I wish it hadn’t happened, but we move on now.”
O’Neal, who won an Oscar at 10 for “Paper Moon,” has battled substance-abuse issues for years. She was arrested last month near her Lower East Side home after buying two bags of crack cocaine from a vagrant.
After the bust, she told The Post’s Andrea Peyser that she credits the arresting cops with saving her life.
Several defense lawyers outside the courtroom said O’Neal’s deal was typical for a first-time offender who’s cooperative and contrite.
Judge Elisa Koenderman told O’Neal that if she meets the conditions of her deal by Sept. 4, the case will be dismissed.
O’Neal said she’ll start shooting the new season of the FX show “Rescue Me” next week.