By BRUCE GOLDING
The heroin-addicted, drug-dealing son of actor Michael Douglas is getting some big help from his family and friends as he tries to avoid spending the next 10 years in federal prison.
Cameron Douglas, 31, pleaded guilty to distributing drugs and heroin possession in January -- the second a charge stemming from allegations that his girlfriend tried to smuggle the drug to him in an electric toothbrush while he was under house arrest.
Although Cameron faces a minimum of 10 years behind bars when he is sentenced April 14 in Manhattan federal court, his lawyers filed a series of letters outlining why the judge should show him leniency, The Post has learned.
The letters provided to the judge are from his grandfather, legendary actor Kirk Douglas, his father, actor Michael Douglas and his wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. A letter from former Knicks coach Pat Riley, a family friend, is also included in the file.
In the letters obtained by The Post, Douglas' lawyers are requesting that he be sentenced to time served or 42 months in prison.
In a heartfelt letter, Kirk Douglas claims "it was a surprise to me" when the sometime-actor/sometime-DJ was busted last July 28 at the Gansevoort Hotel in the Meatpacking District by a DEA task force.
The 93-year-old actor also addes that he'd like to see his grandson rehabilitate himself from drugs "before I die".
Cameron Douglas' lawyers claim he has been clean for the past eight months.
Before his arrest, Douglas had been staying at the hotel for some time in a room rented by his father, and when authorities barged in, they found the place a mess and Cameron Douglas strung out.
An informant had told the investigators that Douglas was the middleman in a deal to move a half-pound of crystal meth from California to New York to sell.
After spending the past year behind bars, Kirk Douglas wrote that he recently saw his grandson and "was gratified to how well he was taking his incarceration. He had no one to blame but himself ... The only sorrow he expressed was the trouble he had caused others".
Kirk Douglas also added that Cameron "calls me Pappy (never grandpa)" and that his grandson "was always fun to be with him and well-behaved. ... I am convinced Cameron can be a fine actor and cares for others. ... I love Cameron".
In a separate, handwritten note, Cameron's step-mother, Catherine Zeta-Jones, wrote: "Never in my experience ... has Cameron shown any sign of the disease that has tormented him toward his siblings or been abusive to us as a family at any time".
On official Miami Heat stationary, legendary NBA coach Pat Riley, a family friend since he coached the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1980s, wrote that Cameron "deserves an honest and appropriate sentence".
In his three-page letter, Riley also wrote, "I hope and pray .. that he is sent to a facility ... that will focus primarily on education and rehabilitation".
He concludes: "Cameron is not a criminal. ... I ask for mercy. ... Can we please save this 'ONE'".
New York Post
