Trey Radel: Republican Congressman Taking Leave Of Absence After Cocaine Arrest

Congressman Trey Radel is planning to take a leave of absence and will donate his salary after pleading guilty to misdemeanor cocaine possession.

Radel announced his decision on Wednesday, immediately after leaving a courtroom, where he was sentenced to one one year of probation. The 37-year-old Republican, a first-term congressman, said he plans to enter an inpatient drug treatment program.

“Your honor, I apologize for what I’ve done,” Radel told Judge Robert Tignor. “I think in life I’ve hit a bottom where I realize I need help.”

Later, Radel was apologetic for his actions.

“I have no excuse for what I have done. I have let down our country,” he said at a news conference.

Radel added that he would do whatever it took to earn back the trust of voters.

“I’m doing so because I want to be a better man. I want to be a better man for you. I want to be a better man for southwest Florida,” Radel said. “I hate the word constituents. What this is about is my friends, my family and my neighbors and each and every one of them,” he continued.

In his news conference on Wednesday, the Congressman also admitted to growing up in a home with an alcoholic mother. Radel said he wants to break the cycle for his own family.

“I don’t want my son to struggle with that,” he said.

Trey Radel was caught buying drugs in a sting operation on October 29, after he met with a confidential source and an undercover police officer at a Washington restaurant. Radel told the men he had cocaine at his apartment and offered to let them to use some.

The undercover officer instead asked if he could sell 3.5 grams to Radel, who gave the officer $260 for the drugs.

When he left the restaurant, Trey Radel was confronted by officers and dropped the bag of cocaine, but later admitted it was his and took them to his apartment to retrieve the cocaine he had there.