Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL), a former anchor at WINK, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of cocaine possession this morning, USA Today reports:
“I’ve hit a bottom,” Radel said, as he appeared in District of Columbia Superior Court. The freshman congressman, who represents a solidly Republican district in southwest Florida, said he’ll enter an in-patient rehab program in his home state.
Radel was caught buying drugs in what a senior Drug Enforcement Administration official described as a sting operation that was part of an investigation by several federal agencies into a drug ring in the nation’s capital. A drug dealer who told law enforcement officials that one of his customers was a member of Congress helped set up a buy on Oct. 29 and Radel bought the cocaine, the official said.
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“I’m profoundly sorry to let down my family, particularly my wife and son, and the people of Southwest Florida,” Radel said in a statement released Tuesday. “I struggle with the disease of alcoholism, and this led to an extremely irresponsible choice. As the father of a young son and a husband to a loving wife, I need to get help so I can be a better man for both of them.”