The actress Mackenzie Phillips, who has long battled drug addiction, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and heroin in a Los Angels court on Friday. Phillips was sentenced to an 18-month drug diversion program.

The 48-year old actress was charged with two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance, heroin and cocaine, after she attempted to smuggle small bags of the two substances past security screeners on August 27, as well as a misdemeanour count of unauthorized possession of a hypodermic needle or syringe.

“I want to thank the Los Angeles Police Department and the airport police for stopping me,” Phillips said in a statement during the hearing at the Airport Courthouse. The judge told her that she was “making tremendous success.”  

Prosecutors decided to drop the heroine and syringe possession counts. The whole episode will be forgotten if the daughter of John Phillip, founder of The Mamas and the Papas pop group, successfully completes her 18-month drug diversion program.

Phillips has claimed to have been exposed to drugs as a child by her father and she has been into rehab several times in the past three decades. She said she smoked marijuana for the first time when she was 13 and shot up for the first time at 17.

Phillips appeared in George Lucas’ film “American Graffiti” when she was a teenager. She also starred in the popular sitcom “One Day At A Time,” with Valerie Bertinelli. She got fired from the sitcom twice in 1982 for drug-related reasons.

The actress’ most recent role was the rock star mom in the Disney Channel series “So Weird.”