Britt Reid offered chance to trim jail term

Britt Reid can either stay in jail and serve the rest of his sentence or enroll in a drug-treatment program that will cut his jail time short, Common Pleas Judge Steven T. O'Neill told him yesterday.

O'Neill explained these options to the 22-year-old son of Eagles coach Andy Reid during a pre-trial hearing in a Montgomery County courtroom.

The judge had just learned that a case in Reid's long list of offenses remained unresolved - a roadblock to possibly getting Reid out of prison sooner than later.

"You need to have certain punishments for the crimes you committed," O'Neill said to Reid, "but you are an addict and I'm a believer in treatment and offer the opportunity to try to balance society's interest . . . and the ultimate desire that you treat."

O'Neill, one of the Reid family's harshest critics, showed a softer side in court as he expressed his concern for the young man.

The treatment program, said O'Neill, would allow Reid to cut his jail term short, but Reid would have to undergo multiple weekly drug tests and counseling sessions, among other regulations, said O'Neill.

"It's tough," said O'Neill.

"If you're not ready for it, don't do it."

Sporting a buzz haircut, navy-blue suit and handcuffs, Reid, who remained expressionless throughout the proceedings, entered the courtroom and sat beside his new lawyers, Bill Honig and Joe Toogood.

Reid, who is serving a 23-month term for flashing a gun at another driver during a road-rage incident in West Conshocken on Jan. 30, was back in court to try to resolve the open case from his August arrest after cops nabbed him with drugs at a Dick's Sporting Goods store in Plymouth Meeting. He was charged with DUI and traffic offenses.

"Either he pleads guilty to the charges we're pursuing or he goes to trial," said Deputy Attorney General Marc Constanzo said. "We made them an offer, but it's most likely the case will be tried."

"We just have to make a decision and talk to Britt," Honig, Reid's lawyer, said.

Honig said it was too "premature" to know where the case was going. The next hearing is slated for mid-January. *