A judge in Athens went against the recommendation of a public prosecutor yesterday and released on bail an actor who was caught earlier this week in possession of 42 grams of cocaine.

The well-known TV actor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, insisted that the drugs were for his personal use and not to be sold to others. He produced documents in court which indicated that he is receiving counseling for drug and alcohol addiction.

His high-profile lawyer, Alexis Kougias, justified the unusually large amount of cocaine in his client’s possession by saying that the actor was wealthy enough to buy more than one fix at a time. The actor was released on bail of 15,000 euros and ordered to regularly appear at his local police station even though the prosecutor had asked for him to be remanded in custody.