Few of the thousands of DWI cases seen in Texas every year make headlines.
But when you are a celebrity, it’s a different story. Randy Travis pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated on January 31, 2013 in a case from last summer when the naked country music star crashed his Pontiac Trans Am.
The 53-year-old entered a plea in Sherman in North Texas. He received a 180-day suspended jail sentence, 24 months of probation and a $2,000 fine. The singer was ordered to spend at least 30 days at an alcohol treatment facility. He also has to complete 100 hours of community service and have an ignition interlock device on any vehicle he drives while on probation.
The misdemeanor was punishable by up to two years in jail and a $4,000 fine.
If Travis fails to complete his probation, he will have to serve 180 days in jail.
The Dallas Morning News reported the Grammy Award winner “entered the plea in front of about three dozen people in a Sherman courtroom. He made no remarks other than to answer ‘yes’ to the judge’s questions and enter his plea.”
The high profile hearing came five months after a Department of Public Safety trooper found the singer naked in the middle of the road after crashing his truck near his hometown of Tioga.
Prosecutors said Travis’ blood alcohol level was .21 percent at the time of his arrest, more than twice the legal limit. He admitted a charge for driving with a level above 0.15, a Class A misdemeanor.
Local authorities said the singer threatened to shoot the trooper when he was arrested. The plea deal reached means he won’t be charged with the felony offense of retaliation.
“We feel it is appropriate in these circumstances,” said Grayson County District Attorney Joe Brown in a prepared statement, as reported by the Dallas Morning News. “His punishment is considerably more than is typically received on a DWI case. “
“About three weeks after Travis was arrested in Grayson County, he was cited in Plano on a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from a confrontation with his girlfriend’s estranged husband in the parking lot of Prestonwood Baptist Church,” the Dallas Morning News reported. The singer has pleaded not guilty to that charge.
