(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."
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