Michael Douglas oldest son, Cameron, 31, was sentenced in Manhattan yesterday to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs and heroin possession. Cameron is the only child of Douglas and his first wife, Diandra Luker, who he was with from 1977-2000 before he married Catherine Zeta-Jones. Last July, Cameron was busted selling about a pound and a half of methamphetamine, valued at $18,000, to an undercover DEA agent at a NY hotel. The bust was part of a sting operation and it came out that Cameron was also selling drugs through the mail and shipping them cross country, which is a federal offense.

Cameron has been in federal prison since last August, having screwed himself out of house arrest at a posh upper east side townhouse when his girlfriend was busted trying to slip him heroin in the battery chamber of an electric toothbrush.

Cameron’s dad, his step mom Catherine Zeta-Jones, and his famous grandfather, Kirk Douglas, all wrote letters to the judge pleading for leniency. There were 37 letters of support for Cameron in total. It may have worked. Earlier reports had Cameron facing a minimum ten year sentence, but he was reportedly cooperative and somehow able to get a lesser sentence.

A judge sentenced Michael Douglas’ son to five years in prison Tuesday for dealing methamphetamine from a trendy Manhattan hotel, calling it his “last chance to make it.”

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman announced the sentence after hearing 31-year-old Cameron Douglas ask for mercy as his Academy Award-winning father and mother, Diandra, listened behind him in a packed courtroom.

“I’d like to apologize to my family and my loved ones for putting them through this nightmare of my making,” Douglas said.

The Hollywood scion and admitted heroin addict also was ordered to forfeit $300,000. A pre-sentence report listed his net worth as $500,000.

As they left federal court in Manhattan, Michael Douglas and his ex-wife had to fight through a writhing mass of photographers to reach a waiting SUV.

Federal agents arrested Douglas last summer at the Hotel Gansevoort in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. Prosecutors alleged that he was the middleman in a scheme to smuggle large amounts of meth from California to New York, sometimes using overnight mail.

Early in a sentencing hearing that stretched more than an hour, the judge described how Douglas had abused drugs since age 13 and noted that he had been sober in prison since last August, his longest drug-free stint since his teenage years.

He noted that he had read at least 37 letters of support from family – including his film legend grandfather, Kirk, stepmother Catherine Zeta-Jones and NBA executive Pat Riley – friends and supporters who “believe he has finally bottomed out in terms of his addiction and may be ready to turn his life around.”

But Berman also expressed doubt Douglas would turn his back on drugs after pleading guilty in January to conspiracy to distribute drugs.

“In my estimation, that will be a very difficult chore,” he said. “I think this case and this sentencing may well be his last chance to make it.”

The conspiracy charge carried a mandatory 10 years in prison, but the judge said the government had agreed that Douglas qualified for a lesser sentence. It had been revealed at a pretrial hearing that Douglas had tried to cooperate.

The defense had requested that Douglas be sentenced to time served or, at most, 3 1/2 years in prison.

When given a chance to speak, Douglas said he was blind to the opportunities to overcome his addiction earlier in life.

“As a result, I squandered a lot of them,” he said. “If I should be so fortunate as to have another chance, I will never squander that opportunity.”

[From The Huffington Post]

So Cameron was facing a minimum ten years in prison and he only got five. Five years sounds pretty light for shipping meth across country and getting busted using drugs while on house arrest. He probably got off much easier due to his famous family and high paid attorneys, but Cameron will still have to do hard time. I don’t feel for this kid. He’ll get out of prison and have a huge support system and plenty of money to fall back on, unlike most convicted felons. For some people, all the opportunities in the world don’t make a difference until it’s almost too late.