Former Montecito resident Cameron Douglas — son of actor Michael Douglas and his ex-wife, Diandra Morrell Douglas — was released on bail Friday while awaiting sentencing in a New York City drug-dealing case. He is facing at least a 10-year federal prison sentence as a result of the conviction.
Douglas, 31, pleaded guilty earlier this week to a charge of dealing crystal methamphetamine and cocaine out of a trendy hotel in New York’s Meatpacking District. According to news reports, he also pleaded guilty to a separate felony heroin possession charge, which stemmed from his girlfriend’s attempt to smuggle the drug to him in an electric toothbrush while he was under house arrest at Diandra Douglas’ Manhattan townhouse.
Douglas will be sentenced April 27. Under federal sentencing guidelines, he must serve a minimum of 10 years in prison on the meth conviction. Prosecutors said Douglas had signed a plea agreement, but the details were not disclosed.
DEA agents arrested Douglas in July at Manhattan’s Hotel Gansevoort, where he was found to have large amounts of crystal meth and cash in his possession. The arrest came after Douglas allegedly mailed 215 grams of the drug to a federal post office box in a package addressed to a government informant.
According to the New York Daily News, an informant had told investigators that Douglas, a bit-part actor, deejay and the grandson of Kirk Douglas, was the middleman in a deal to move a half-pound of crystal meth to New York from California.
Michael Douglas appeared briefly in Manhattan federal court Friday to sign papers for his eldest son’s release, but he declined comment to reporters. The family had earlier released a statement addressing Douglas’ troubles.
“We are devastated about the recent behavior of our son, Cameron,” the statement said. “Any family who has dealt with substance abuse knows how difficult it can be.”
Douglas, who will be required to wear an electronic monitoring device while on bail, was arrested in Carpinteria in 2007 on cocaine possession charges and he was busted in New York in 1999 for buying drugs.
— Noozhawk publisher Bill Macfadyen can be reached at wmacfadyen@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk.