SAG HARBOR, N.Y. (AP) — Justin Timberlake urged drivers to not get behind the wheel of a automobile after even a single alcoholic drink on Friday, shortly after pleading responsible to driving whereas impaired in New York’s Hamptons earlier this yr.
The general public security announcement in entrance of the Sag Harbor police division was a part of the plea deal that knocked down the misdemeanor cost he’d confronted to a non-criminal visitors violation. The boy band singer-turned-solo star and actor was additionally sentenced to a $500 superb with a $260 surcharge, 25 hours of group service on the nonprofit of his selecting and a 90-day suspension of his license.
“I attempt to maintain myself to a really excessive customary, for myself, and this was not that,” Timberlake advised the information media and different onlookers after the listening to within the adjoining Sag Harbor Village Courtroom.
“Even when you’ve had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a automobile,” he mentioned. “There’s so many options. Name a pal. Take an Uber. There’s many journey apps. Nonetheless, take a taxi. This can be a mistake that I made, however I am hoping that whoever is watching and listening proper now can study from this error. I do know that I actually have.”
The NSYNC star made comparable feedback in the course of the courtroom listening to and mentioned he grew up in a small city and appreciated the sort of pressure his arrest has made on a group like Sag Harbor.
The one-time whaling village, which is talked about in Herman Melville’s basic novel “Moby-Dick,” is nestled amid the Hamptons, an space of seaside communities round 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of New York Metropolis.
Timberlake was arrested there a bit of after midnight on June 18 after police mentioned he ran a cease signal within the village heart, veered out of his lane and obtained out of his BMW smelling of alcohol.
Police mentioned the 43-year-old Tennessee native advised the officer he had had one martini and was following some mates house. He initially pleaded not responsible to a misdemeanor cost of driving whereas intoxicated.
Timberlake advised the courtroom he’s had a variety of time to mirror on his actions and was “grateful for the chance to maneuver ahead” and use his platform to hopefully assist others make “higher choices.“
“I ought to have had higher judgment,” he mentioned to the decide. “I perceive the seriousness of this.”
Choose Carl Irace mentioned he didn’t oppose lowering the cost Timberlake confronted since he was a primary time offender and thanked him for talking sincerely and “from the guts.” However he questioned the appropriateness of the proposed sentence, dismissing the general public announcement Timberlake meant to make shortly after the courtroom proceedings as “unsatisfactory.”
Irace mentioned imposing a further requirement of group service would give the singer extra time to mirror on his actions.
“My expertise is that these circumstances can show useful and even gratifying for the accused,” he mentioned.
Prosecutor Patrick O’Connell advised the decide that they had weighed recommending group service, however thought an announcement from Timberlake could be a extra precious public service due to its potential to affect a youthful technology worldwide.
He additionally mentioned Timberlake’s remarks would hopefully present that “nobody is above the legislation,” not even the rich and well-known.
“Mr. Timberlake acquired the identical remedy as another defendant,” Suffolk County District Lawyer Ray Tierney added in an announcement after the listening to. “Justice ought to be utilized equally to all people, no matter their wealth or movie star standing.”
Amongst these within the courtroom Friday was an area mom whose 12-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver in 2018.
Alisa McMorris, who now runs a basis in her son Andrew’s reminiscence, mentioned she hoped Timberlake’s remarks would assist convey extra consciousness to the hazards of driving beneath the affect.
“Justin has such an enormous platform to the following technology. Individuals hearken to him,” she mentioned alongside her daughter after the singer had departed. “5 phrases I inform the children after I go to the excessive colleges is ‘How are we getting house?’ and he spoke about that. Make a plan. I don’t need one other sister or a household to should undergo what we did.”
Edward Burke Jr., Timberlake’s lawyer, maintained exterior the courtroom after Friday’s listening to that his shopper solely had one drink in two hours on the American Resort earlier than his arrest.
“Opposite to what was reported, he wasn’t consuming different peoples’ drinks, or warned prematurely to not drive,” mentioned Burke, including that the lesser cost Timberlake pleaded to is “per these info.”
At one level within the listening to, Timberlake promised Choose Irace he wouldn’t “return” to driving after having a drink once more. The decide, who had in any other case been severe in tone, playfully interjected: “However come again to Sag Harbor! It’s a fantastic place.”
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Related Press author Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
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Observe Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.