Boy George draws garbage detail in community service sentence

Boy George, garbage man.

Photo: Boy George draws garbage detail in community service sentence

The one-time Culture Club singer will do five days of court-ordered community service as an employee of the Department of Sanitation, a spokesman for the city agency confirmed Tuesday.

"He will be part of our team," said sanitation spokesman Keith Mellis. "We won't know exactly what he will be doing for several weeks, though."

The singer born George O'Dowd, who has struggled with drug problems for years, was ordered to do community service after pleading guilty in March to false reporting of an incident. He called police with a false report of a burglary at his lower Manhattan apartment last October, and the responding officers found cocaine inside, reports AP.

According to Guardian, in March, O'Dowd, 45, pleaded guilty to third-degree false reporting of an incident. The charge followed his false report of a burglary at his Lower Manhattan apartment in October, where police said they found cocaine.

Under his plea deal, O'Dowd was to enter a drug programme in England and complete five days of community service in Manhattan. He was also supposed to pay a $1,000 fine (£549) and a $160 ($87) surcharge, and avoid arrest for any reason during the next six months. But the singer did not do the community service.

After his hearing, the singer said he believed the nature of his punishment was not the best choice. "It would have been more useful to make 30 grand with a concert, rather than be prancing around in a park," O'Dowd told the Press Association. "I could have raised some money, could have done something that would have helped."

O.Ch.