Justin Timberlake 'takes plea deal' with US authorities following drink-driving arrest
11 September 2024, 20:39
Justin TImberlake is said to have reached a plea deal with US authorities following his arrest for drink-driving in New York.
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The US pop star-turned-actor is scheduled to enter a new plea in connection with his DWI case, US prosecutors confirmed on Wednesday, after he was pulled over by police in Long Island and charged with driving under the influence.
Timberlake was arrested on June 18 with "bloodshot and glassy" eyes according to police statements, with a "strong odour of an alcoholic beverage" wafting from the singer.
Details of the new plea deal were not disclosed but a source told AP that Timberlake has agreed to plead guilty to a less serious offence than the original charge of driving while intoxicated.
However, according to the Mail Online, Timberlake, 43, will admit to Driving While Ability Impaired, instead of the original DWI charge, which has been dropped.
He's also said to face a $300 to $500 fine as part of the agreement.
Timberlake's lawyer Edward Burke declined to comment.
The pop singer is now set to appear in person on Friday in Sag Harbor Village Court to enter a plea, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney's office confirmed on Wednesday.
The singer-songwriter was understood to have been having dinner with friends at the American Hotel bar in Sag Harbor before leaving and attempting to drive off in a BMW.
Police say he drove through a stop sign at around 12:30, veered out of his lane and got out of his BMW smelling of alcohol.
The 43-year-old pleaded not guilty to a drink-driving charge.
At a hearing last month, a judge suspended Timberlake's right to drive in New York.
Mr Burke has maintained that Timberlake was not drunk and that the case should be dropped.
Timberlake was pulled over after leaving a Sag Harbor hotel at around 12.30am, according to police.
"His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odour of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath, he was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot and he performed poorly on all standardised field sobriety tests," police said in a court filing.
Timberlake told the officer he had drunk one martini and was following some friends home, according to police. He was arrested and spent the night in custody at a police station.
A 10-time Grammy winner, Timberlake began performing as a young Disney Mouseketeer, rose to fame as part of the boy band NSYNC and embarked on a solo recording career in the early 2000s.
Sag Harbor is a one-time whaling village mentioned in Herman Melville's classic novel Moby-Dick that is nestled amid the Hamptons, around 100 miles east of New York City.
