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Judge orders Cybill Shepherd's son to attend AA meetings

The son of TV and movie actress Cybill Shepherd was ordered yesterday to attend 24 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as a condition of his sentence, stemming from his January arrest on theft charges at Philadelphia International Airport.

The son of TV and movie actress Cybill Shepherd was ordered yesterday to attend 24 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as a condition of his sentence, stemming from his January arrest on theft charges at Philadelphia International Airport.

During a hearing that took only several minutes, Cyrus "Zack" Shepherd-Oppenheim, 22, was admitted into the state's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program (ARD) by Municipal Judge Georganne V. Daher.

The program is designed to speed up the legal process for first-time offenders, often those facing drunk-driving charges. Once an offender completes the program's requirements, the criminal charges associated with the offense are expunged from his or her record.

Shepherd-Oppenheim smiled and said, "I have no comment. Thank you, though," as he donned a straw hat and exited courtroom 506 with his defense attorney, William J. Brennan.

"That's why he's a straight-A student at Penn - he's a smart kid," Brennan joked.

"Basically, the case is kept in limbo for a year," Brennan said of the sentence. "At the successful conclusion of the year, all charges are dismissed and the record of his arrest is expunged. It would be as if this never happened."

In addition to the AA meetings, Judge Daher ordered Shepherd-Oppenheim to pay $55 in restitution.

Of the AA meetings Brennan said: "Chicken soup - it can't hurt. I don't know that it's needed in this case, but it certainly can't hurt."

On Jan. 12, Shepherd-Oppenheim was arrested and charged with theft, unlawful taking and receiving stolen property after exiting a United Airlines flight from San Francisco.

Police said the University City resident stole a Canon digital camera, a leather makeup case and cash from carry-on bags of fellow passengers.

Shepherd-Oppenheim and his twin sister, Molly, are the children of Cybill Shepherd and her ex-husband, Bruce Oppenheim.

Shepherd, 60, gained fame in the 1970s as a magazine covergirl and later in films including, "The Last Picture Show" and "Taxi Driver." In the 1980s, she starred opposite Bruce Willis in the hit ABC television series "Moonlighting."