‘Cheers’ Star Pleads No Contest : Courts: Actor Kelsey Grammer is sentenced to 90 days’ house arrest for cocaine possession. He will wear an electronic tracking device.

“Cheers” actor Kelsey Grammer pleaded no contest Monday to possessing cocaine and was sentenced to 90 days’ house arrest, wearing an electronic device that will allow authorities to keep track of his whereabouts.

The sentence--the second for Grammer in less than three months--allows him to leave his Van Nuys home to work in the popular NBC television series. A signal from the device, which will be locked to his wrist or ankle, will track his whereabouts for authorities.

A spokeswoman for the series declined comment when asked how the producers will deal with the presence of the device on camera. Grammer said he began filming episodes last week for the fall season.

He also will be allowed to attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings and other functions, as approved by probation officers.

Grammer, recently nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of the comically pompous psychiatrist, Dr. Frasier Crane, appeared to be in an upbeat mood as he entered the plea on the felony charge before Van Nuys Superior Court Judge James M. Coleman.

Coleman also ordered Grammer to pay a $500 fine, undergo drug and alcohol abuse counseling and perform 300 hours of community service. The type of service will be determined by Grammer’s probation officer, said the judge, who added that he would rather see Grammer on television than in his courtroom.

The judge additionally placed the actor on probation for three years. During that time, Grammer and his home will be subject to police searches for narcotics “day or night, with or without a warrant,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Terese M. Hutchison, the prosecutor.

According to his probation report, Grammer admitted “extensive use of alcoholic beverages since the age of 9” and use of cocaine since 1979, in addition to experimenting with marijuana, Valium and the drug known as “ecstasy.”

Grammer, 35, said outside of court that he does not believe he has a drug or alcohol problem, but pleaded no contest because “it seemed to be the best thing to do.”

Asked what he thought of the sentence, Grammer said: “It seemed fair.”

Hutchison had asked that Grammer, who could have received up to three years in prison, be sentenced to 90 days in jail. But she termed Grammer’s punishment “reasonable under the circumstances,” calling the electronic surveillance device “a scarlet letter kind of thing.”

“He can’t do anything without the probation department knowing. It makes him have to take responsibility on a daily basis,” she said.

The cocaine possession charge stems from Grammer’s arrest on April 14, 1988, after being stopped by Los Angeles police while driving in North Hollywood with expired license plates.

He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and driving without a license and was taken by patrol car to a police station for a blood-alcohol test. His blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.03%--well below the legal standard for driving under the influence. But a one-quarter gram packet of cocaine was found in the patrol car, and Grammer conceded it was his.

Grammer was given permission to enroll in a court-ordered drug rehabilitation program, which allows first-time drug offenders to avoid jail and expunge the arrest from their records. When he failed to do so, he was again arrested and ordered to stand trial.

In a separate case, the actor was sentenced in May to 30 days in jail and to 10 days of picking up trash and pulling weeds along local highways as punishment for failing to attend a court-ordered alcohol abuse program ordered as a condition of probation for a 1987 drunk-driving arrest in Van Nuys.

Grammer was released after 14 days because of jail overcrowding.

Hutchison said she told Grammer it was a shame that someone with his talent should be in such trouble. According to his probation report, Grammer makes $40,000 per episode of “Cheers,” which films 26 episodes per season.

“I told him to get his life together,” Hutchison said. “People make mistakes. They can thrive upon adversity and rise above it.”