NEW YORK — A longtime celebrity gossip columnist was sentenced to six years in prison Friday for soliciting sex over the Internet from an undercover FBI agent posing as a 13-year-old girl.

Timothy McDarrah, who once edited the New York Post's “Page Six” feature and last worked as editor of the “Hot Stuff” column at US Weekly magazine, held back tears during his appearance in a Manhattan courtroom.

McDarrah's attorney blamed his client's conduct on an Internet addiction. McDarrah, who was in previous legal trouble, years ago, when he battled a heroin addiction, apologized to his family for ruining his life a second time.

The writer was caught in the FBI's sting after he responded to a classified ad on craigslist.com offering introductions to the “freshest, youngest” girls in New York. The FBI had posted the ad to lure paedophiles.

The agent and McDarrah exchanged several messages, including some in which McDarrah offered money and gifts for sex. He was arrested after going to an address that the agent had described as the 13-year-old girl's home.

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