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LOS ANGELES - Lindsay Lohan reached a plea deal today meaning she will spend just one day in jail on misdemeanor drunken driving and cocaine charges.
Lohan will also have to serve 10 days of community service and complete a drug treatment program. She was placed on 36 months probation, is required to complete an 18-month alcohol education program, pay hundreds of dollars in fines and must complete a three-day county coroner program in which she will visit a morgue and talk to victims of drunken drivers.
"She's getting what everyone else would get," Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers said after an hour-long hearing.
In a statement released to People magazine, Lohan admitted she was addicted to alcohol and drugs.
"It is clear to me that my life has become completely unmanageable because I am addicted to alcohol and drugs," she said in the statement, which was posted on People's website.
"Recently, I relapsed and did things for which I am ashamed. I broke the law, and today I took responsibility by pleading guilty to the charges in my case. No matter what I said when I was under the influence on the day I was arrested, I am not blaming anyone else for my conduct other than myself. I thank God I did not injure others. I easily could have.
"I very much want to be healthy and gain control of my life and career and have asked for medical help in doing so. I am taking these steps to improve my life. Luckily, I am not alone in my daily struggle and I know that people like me have succeeded. Maybe with time it will become easier. I hope so."
California officials earlier in the day charged Lindsay Lohan with cocaine possession and drunken driving, but she avoided more serious drug charges that could have earned the troubled actress a tougher punishment.
Lohan, 21, was arrested in May after wrecking her car in Beverly Hills, and again in July following a car chase in the Los Angeles area community of Santa Monica.
In both cases, Lohan possessed cocaine, but the amounts were below the .05 grams required for more serious felony charges of drug possession, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said in a statement.
The actress, who is currently being treated in a rehab clinic in Utah, was been charged with seven misdemeanor counts, including driving under the influence, driving with a blood alcohol level over the limit of .08 per cent, being under the influence of cocaine and reckless driving.
Lohan, who did two previous stints in rehab clinics earlier this year, is one of several young celebrities, including Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, who have faced legal troubles in recent months.
In May, the actress was arrested in Beverly Hills after crashing her Mercedes Benz into a tree, then leaving the scene to seek medical treatment. She admitted to being the car's driver and was found to be in possession of a substance that was found to be .04 grams of cocaine, officials said.
In July, the actress was arrested in Santa Monica, California, after an early morning car chase in which she was pursuing the mother of her former personal assistant.
The woman she was chasing led Lohan's car to the Santa Monica Police Department parking lot, where the actress was arrested. She was found to be in possession of .02 grams of cocaine, officials said.
Lohan rose to fame as a teenager in Disney films like Freaky Friday, but last year her hard-partying ways got her into trouble when the producer of "Georgia Rule" admonished her for showing up late after partying.
Georgia Rule, in which she portrayed a troubled teenager, proved to be a box office disappointment and last month's movie, I Know Who Killed Me, bombed.
- REUTERS
