(AP) - Comedian Artie Lange has been spared a prison term for possessing heroin.

A judge on Friday ordered Lange to serve four years of probation. The Hoboken resident also must complete an outpatient drug treatment program.

The charge stemmed from a May 2017 traffic stop on the Garden State Parkway. Lange pleaded guilty in December, when Essex County prosecutors agreed to drop a 2016 cocaine possession charge.

Prosecutors wanted the 50-year-old comedian sent to an inpatient treatment program. But Lange told the judge he preferred outpatient treatment because he needs to work.

Lange is a cast member in the HBO series "Crashing." He also performed on the Fox sketch comedy series Mad TV and spent nearly a decade as a co-host on "The Howard Stern Show."