NEW YORK — A friend of Philip Seymour Hoffman who was arrested after the actor’s overdose death pleaded guilty 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 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.


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