Kennedy pleads guilty to driving under drug influence

US Congressman Patrick Kennedy has reached a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of prescription drugs in connection with his middle-of-the-night car crash last month.

Two additional charges of reckless driving and failure to exhibit a driving permit will be dismissed under the plea agreement.

Announcing this, Kennedy's chief of staff, Sean Richardson, said the Rhode Island Democrat would appear in District of Columbia Superior Court today "to accept the consequences of his actions".

"He is looking forward to closing this chapter," Richardson said. "He's feeling great and is expected to be back to work."

Kennedy is the son of Senator Edward Kennedy and a nephew of assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

Kennedy agreed to the guilty plea in exchange for having two additional charges of reckless driving and failure to exhibit a driving permit dismissed.

Kennedy returned to Congress last week after nearly a month of treatment for addiction to prescription pain drugs at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

The six-term congressman, who has struggled with addiction since high school, had entered the clinic one day after the May 4 crash on Capitol Hill that he said he could not remember.

The accident has raised questions about whether Kennedy, 38, was drinking and had received special treatment by police, who did not conduct field sobriety tests. Kennedy has denied consuming alcohol before the crash.

In the hours before the crash, Kennedy said he returned home from work and took a sleeping pill, Ambien, and Phenergan, a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness. He said he did not consume alcohol. Kennedy crashed his green 1997 Ford Mustang convertible into a security barrier near the Capitol building about 3am.