Comedian Artie Lange Pleads Guilty to Heroin Possession

Artie Lange Pleads Guilty to Heroin Possession

Artie Lange has pled guilty to possession of heroin, PEOPLE confirms.

The comedian made his plea in a New Jersey court on Friday, according to Katherine Carter, a spokesperson for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. Lange pleaded guilty to possessing 81 decks of heroin, a term that usually refers to a bag of heroin weighing roughly 1-15 oz. and costs about $5 to $10, according to Carter.

In exchange for pleading guilty to the heroin charge, prosecutors dismissed charges for possession of cocaine brought against Lange on Feb. 23, 2016, Carter said. According to Carter, Lange said he would voluntarily enter a rehab facility, even though it was not a condition of his deal.

Carter confirms that Lange is expected to be released Friday and will be sentenced Feb. 23. The Blast was the first to report the news.

Lange was arrested Tuesday evening at 6:40 p.m. at his home in Hoboken after failing to appear in Essex County Superior Court for charges stemming from a drug arrest in May, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura previously confirmed to PEOPLE.

The troubled entertainer, who rose to fame as a performer on Howard Stern‘s radio show, was supposed to face charges of heroin possession and drug paraphernalia from an arrest in May. According to Fontoura, Lange was arrested by state police in Bloomfield on May 12 during a plainclothes surveillance operation after he was spotted driving at a high speed away from a McDonald’s on the Garden State Parkway. When he was stopped, detectives allegedly found a bag of heroin on his lap. He was charged with possession of a controlled dangerous substance and drug paraphernalia.

Lange’s arrest comes on the heels of bizarre incident on Saturday, in which he tweeted a picture of himself looking disheveled and possibly injured with a swollen nose, prompting a response from Hoboken police, according to NJ.com.

In Lange’s Tuesday mugshot, the comedian’s nose was similarly swollen.