Justin Timberlake is expected to plead guilty Friday following his June arrest in the Hamptons for drunken driving.
The boy band singer-turned-solo star and actor will appear in Sag Harbor Village Court on Friday to formally enter a new plea, prosecutors said.
Details of the agreement with prosecutors weren’t disclosed, but a person with knowledge of the deal said Timberlake has agreed to admit guilt to a lesser offense of “ driving while ability impaired,” a traffic violation that carries a $300 to $500 fine and a 90-day license suspension.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the deal until it was approved by a judge Friday.
The pop star originally pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated and had his driver’s license suspended during a hearing last month.
Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment ahead of the hearing, as did Timberlake’s attorney, Edward Burke.
Timberlake was arrested in Sag Harbor, New York, a little after midnight on June 18 after police said he ran a stop sign in the village center, veered out of his lane and got out of his BMW smelling of alcohol.
Police in court filings also said the 43-year-old Tennessee native’s eyes were “bloodshot and glassy” and that he had “slowed speech,” was unsteady on his feet and performed poorly on all sobriety tests.
Timberlake told the officer he had had one martini and was following some friends home, police said.
Sag Harbor is a one-time whaling village mentioned in Herman Melville’s classic novel “Moby-Dick” that is nestled amid the Hamptons, an area of seaside communities around 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of New York City.
Timberlake's license suspension in New York likely impacts his ability to drive in other states, a legal expert said this week.
Refusing a Breathalyzer test, as Timberlake did during his arrest, triggers an automatic suspension of one's license under New York state law, which should then be enforced in other states, according to Kenneth Gober, a managing partner at the law firm Lee, Gober & Reyna in Austin, Texas.
“Most states participate in the interstate Driver’s License Compact, an agreement to share information about license suspensions and traffic violations,” he explained in an email. “If a license is suspended in one state it should be suspended in all states.”
In practice, though, it can take a long time for such changes to be reflected across state lines, Gober acknowledged. The pop star also has the resources to easily arrange for a driver and doesn’t need a car to drive to do his job, he added.
Timberlake’s agent and other representatives didn’t respond to emails seeking comment this week.
Pop star Justin Timberlake was charged early Tuesday with drunken driving in a village in New York’s Hamptons, after police said he ran a stop sign and veered out of his lane in the posh seaside summer retreat.
The boy band singer-turned-solo star and actor was driving a 2025 BMW in Sag Harbor around 12:30 a.m. when an officer stopped him and determined he was intoxicated, according to a court document.
“His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor 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 standardized field sobriety tests,” the court papers said.
Timberlake, 43, told the officer he had one martini and was following some friends home, according to the documents. After being arrested and taken to a police station in nearby East Hampton, he refused a breath test, said the court papers, which listed his occupation as “professional” and said he’s “self-employed.”
The 10-time Grammy winner was released without bond later Tuesday morning after being arraigned in Sag Harbor. He was charged with a driving-while-intoxicated misdemeanor, and his next court date was scheduled for July 26, the Suffolk County district attorney’s office said.
Edward Burke Jr., a local lawyer representing Timberlake, declined to comment Tuesday other than to confirm the star doesn’t need to appear in person for his next court date. Timberlake’s California-based representatives didn’t return multiple requests for comment Tuesday.
The arrest brought a steady stream of curiosity seekers to the village’s quaint Main Street, with many taking photos in front of the brick municipal building throughout the day.
Even music legend Billy Joel, who owns a home in Sag Harbor, took in the scene outside the American Hotel, a popular hotel and restaurant located next to the courthouse where Timberlake had been spotted before his arrest.
“Judge not lest ye be judged,” the “Piano Man” singer told WPIX, declining to comment on Timberlake or his arrest.
A young Timberlake began performing as a Disney Mouseketeer, where his castmates included future girlfriend Britney Spears (he’s now married to actress Jessica Biel). He rose to fame in the behemoth boy band NSYNC, embarked on a solo recording career in 2002 and was one of pop’s most influential figures in the early 2000s.
Former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for a deadly crash in Las Vegas.
Ruggs, 24, pleaded guilty in May to one count of driving under the influence resulting in death, a felony, and one count of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the 2021 crash, which killed a 23-year-old woman and her dog.
Judge Jennifer Schwartz said this was "one of the more tragic cases that I've seen" before formally sentencing Ruggs in Clark County District Court on Wednesday. The judge said her sentence adhered to the terms of the plea agreement, under which Ruggs will be eligible for parole after three years.
Ruggs addressed the court prior to his sentencing. He apologized to the family of Tina Tintor, who died from thermal injuries in the crash along with her dog, Max.
Ruggs said he's spent the past 21 months searching to "find answers to explain my selfish behavior on that day."
"I have no excuse and pray that accepting responsibility and my guilty plea can allow me to begin the healing process and to allow everyone involved to heal also," he said.
In a statement read by a family representative prior to the sentencing, Tintor's family said she was "killed in the most tragic yet preventable way."
"Our Tina was special to us in that she was unlike any other. Her perspective on the world made everyone around her better," the family said.
Ruggs was driving 156 mph seconds before he slammed his Corvette into the back of a Toyota SUV in Las Vegas, according to police.
Ruggs refused a field sobriety test, according to police, but prosecutors said he had a blood alcohol level of 0.161% -- more than twice the legal limit in Nevada.
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped several other charges, including felony reckless driving. The Clark County District Attorney's Office said it agreed to a plea deal because there was a "legitimate concern" that the court would have suppressed the result of the blood draw and prosecutors could have lost the felony DUI charge, the most serious charge Ruggs faced.
A federal judge has sentenced a Wapato man to nearly five years in prison for a 2019 driving under the influence crash that killed four citizens of the Yakama Nation.
Leland James Finley, 28, had pleaded guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury in connection with the May 2019 crash on the Yakama Nation Reservation.
U.S. District Court Judge Sal Mendoza sentenced Finley on May 31 in Richland, the Yakama Herald-Republic reports.
Authorities said Finley was driving an SUV with five passengers when he drove in front of a semitrailer at an intersection on U.S. Highway 97 just south of Toppenish. Four of the six people in the SUV were killed. Finley and another passenger were injured.
The Yakima County Coroner’s Office identified the victims as 41-year-old Frances Northover, of Bellingham; 61-year-old Susan Brown, of Yakima; 21-year-old Matt Brown-Washington, of Wapato; and 39-year-old Michelle Untuch, of Toppenish.
A Louisiana appellate court has ordered a state judge to add details to the sentence of a man who pleaded guilty to killing a jogger while driving drunk in October 2020.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal ruled in the case of George D. McKinney Jr., who pleaded guilty last year to vehicular homicide in the death of 30-year-old Jason D. Webb, the American Press reported. The trial judge sentenced him to the maximum 30 years in prison but suspended seven years of that.
McKinney was driving fast and had crossed the center line on Old Highway 171, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office told the newspaper on the day of the accident, Oct. 29, 2020.
The panel said it was not ruling on a claim that the trial judge failed to consider mitigating factors when he sentenced McKinney, who was a 22-year-old first offender. But it said the judge must explain how mitigating factors and aggravating factors affect the new sentence.
The appeals court also noted that the trial judge said he gave McKinney the maximum sentence to “set an example and to deter others from driving while impaired.” The court noted that it banned such a use of the maximum sentence in 2004.
The judge said McKinney must spend at least three years in prison without probation, parole or suspension. The appeal court said that wasn’t specific enough.
The judge also ordered McKinney to serve five years on supervised probation after his release from prison and to pay restitution for funeral costs, counseling for Webb’s children and any medical bills not covered by insurance.
The appellate panel said state law limits supervised probation after release to three years for someone in McKinney’s circumstances. And it said there must be a dollar amount and payment plan for restitution.
It also said the judge failed to order McKinney to participate in a court-approved substance abuse program, something that is required under state law.
The North Dakota Supreme Court will allow a man accused of drunken driving to withdraw his guilty plea to the charge.
The court recently reversed a North Central District Court judge’s refusal to suppress some evidence in the DUI case against defendant Michael Anthony Boger.
He was stopped by a Minot police officer in November 2019 who said Boger failed to have his rear license plate illuminated. Boger argued in court the officer’s own body camera footage showed the license plate was actually illuminated, the Minot Daily News reported.
The officer claimed that it only looked illuminated because of the reflection of the lights from the police squad car and a nearby gas station.
Judge Doug Mattson denied Boger’s motion to suppress evidence in the case and Boger then entered a conditional guilty plea to driving under the influence, his third offense within seven years. The conditional plea was with the understanding that he would be able to withdraw his plea if the Supreme Court ruled in his favor on appeal.
The high court ruled the body camera video clearly shows that Boger’s license plate was illuminated and the officer did not have probable cause to stop the vehicle, so the evidence must be suppressed.
The case will be sent back to the district court to allow Boger to withdraw his guilty plea.
Broncos running back Melvin Gordon will likely avoid NFL discipline after his drunken driving charge was dismissed and he pleaded guilty in Denver County Court on Wednesday to lesser charges of excessive speeding and reckless driving.
Gordon was arrested Oct. 13 in downtown Denver when he was clocked going 71 mph in a 35 mph zone. He was cited for speeding and charged with DUI. He didn’t take a breathalyzer at the scene.
A suspension would have sidelined him to start the 2021 season and allowed the Broncos to void $6.5 million of guaranteed salary for 2021.
Gordon is entering the second season of the two-year, $16 million free agent contract he signed a year ago. He led the Broncos in carries (215), rushing yards (986) and TD runs (nine) last season and added 32 catches for 158 yards and a score.
Shortly after his arrest, which was the first off-the-field issue he’s faced in his six-year NFL career, Gordon said, “I’m a little upset that I even put myself in the situation.” And in December, he said he was leaving his legal and contractual issues to his representatives and was focused on football.
“Hopefully I did enough for them to want to keep me here. I do feel like they have something special here growing and I definitely want to be a part of it,” Gordon said at the time. “So, we’ll see, hopefully it works out, and hopefully they like me enough to kind of put all that stuff to the side. I guess in a couple months or so we’ll see what’s up.”