VENTURA, Calif. (AP) 鈥� pleaded guilty through her lawyer Monday to a lesser charge that will allow her to avoid jail time after California prosecutors accused her of of alcohol and drugs.
The 44-year-old pop star, who recently completed a stint at a rehabilitation facility, didn鈥檛 appear in Ventura County court. But her lawyer, Michael A. Goldstein, pleaded guilty on her behalf to what鈥檚 commonly called a 鈥渨et reckless.鈥� That allowed her to be sentenced to one day in jail that the judge said she served when she was booked, one year of probation, a required DUI class and state-mandated fines.
The plea offer was standard for defendants with no DUI history, no crash or injury on the road, and a low blood-alcohol level, the county district attorney鈥檚 office said. And it鈥檚 especially common for defendants who have shown motivation to address their problems and seek treatment, as Spears did when she voluntarily a substance abuse treatment center last month.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody鈥檚 happy about pleading guilty to anything, but under the circumstances, to get this behind her, I think everybody is pleased with the result,鈥� Goldstein said after the hearing. 鈥淲e appreciate the district attorney recognizing the positive steps that Britney is taking to help herself.鈥�
Goldstein said Spears returned home after recently completing her rehab stint, and that reports that she left early were 鈥渁bsolutely false.鈥� Asked what鈥檚 next for her, he replied, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know, I鈥檓 sure a lot.鈥�
During the brief hearing, Spears received summary probation, which is informal and doesn鈥檛 involve mandatory meetings with a probation officer. She temporarily yielded her Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights if she is pulled over, meaning she must automatically yield to searches and sobriety tests. At Goldstein’s request, the judge ruled this would not apply to her home.
District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said after the hearing that Spears had taken 鈥渇ull responsibility,鈥� but he emphasized that DUI is a 鈥渟erious crime鈥� and said it was essential that she follow the requirements agreed to in court, which include continued substance abuse treatment, weekly visits with a therapist and monthly visits with a psychiatrist.
鈥淲e do not want Miss Spears to reoffend,鈥� Nasarenko said.
She was charged Thursday with one misdemeanor DUI count, which meant she was not required to appear in court for her arraignment. But her representatives hadn鈥檛 said whether she would appear, and the hearing drew an unusually heavy media turnout for Ventura, a seaside city of about 110,000 people roughly 70 miles (113 kilometers) northwest of downtown LA.
arrest, a representative called her actions inexcusable and said that ideally, the arrest would lead to overdue change in her life.
She was pulled over for driving her black BMW quickly and erratically on U.S. 101, the California Highway Patrol said. She appeared to be impaired, took a series of field sobriety tests, was arrested and was taken to jail, the CHP said.
Authorities said in the criminal complaint that Spears had alcohol and drugs in her system, but they didn鈥檛 specify which drugs or list her blood alcohol content.
Spears grew to superstardom in the 1990s and 2000s with hits including 鈥淭oxic,鈥� 鈥淕imme More鈥� and 鈥淚鈥檓 a Slave 4 U.鈥� Most of her nine studio albums have been certified platinum, with two diamond titles: 1999鈥檚 鈥溾�� Baby One More Time鈥� and 2000s 鈥淥ops! 鈥� I Did It Again.鈥�
She became a tabloid obsession in the early 2000s and a source of intense public scrutiny as she battled mental illness and paparazzi fought to document the .
In 2008, Spears was placed under a court-ordered conservatorship, run primarily by her father and his lawyers, that would control her personal and financial decisions for well over a decade. It was dissolved in 2021.
Since then, she has married, divorced, and released a bestselling memoir,
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