The 24-year-old will join an intense rehabilitation program that will include frequent drug tests and court appearances.
If he relapses or otherwise flunks the program, O'Neal faces several years in prison for a pair of drug convictions.
O'Neal became eligible for the drug court after he failed to pass a less stringent court-supervised rehab program.
O'Neal was stoic as Assistant District Attorney Anthony Estradas laid out the rules of the program, including that he would have to have his own job. The payoff, Estradas told O'Neal, would be a drug-free life and possibly a better relationship with his family.
"Jail will no longer be in your future," Estradas told O'Neal, who was wearing a brown jail jumpsuit.
He has been in custody since April 5, when deputies say they found him with heroin in a parking lot at Los Angeles area jail. He has pleaded not guilty to charges filed in that case.
O'Neal expressed regret recently, telling a judge his recent arrest was keeping him from being with his ailing mother. Fawcett is suffering from anal cancer that has spread to her liver and has suffered complications from an unrelated procedure performed in Germany.
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