Randy Travis pleads guilty to drunk driving, gets probation

By Nardine Saad

Jan. 31, 2013 12 AM PT

Randy Travis pleaded guilty to drunk driving Thursday and as a result will be avoiding jail time in a case that began last summer when he crashed his car and was found naked at the scene.

The country singer was given a 180-day suspended jail sentence, must pay a $2,000 fine and spend two years on probation, according to the Associated Press.

His probation order includes completing 100 hours of community service, spending a minimum of 30 days in an alcohol treatment facility and having an ignition interlock device present on any car he drives. The device prevents the car from starting if he is intoxicated, TMZ reports.

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If he follows his probation order, he will not be going to jail.

Travis, 53, crashed his Pontiac Trans Am at a construction site near Tioga, Texas, on Aug. 7, 2012.

The Grammy winner was booked on a “retaliation and obstruction charge” after refusing a Breathalyzer test and threatening to shoot the troopers working his case. The investigation began when a 911 caller reported a naked man was lying on the road.

Prosecutors said he was belligerent at the scene and had a blood alcohol level of 0.21, exceeding the legal limit of 0.08. By pleading guilty, his felony retaliation charge was dropped, CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reports.

Travis’ sentence is “considerably more than is typically received on a DWI case,” Grayson County Dist. Atty. Joe Brown said in a release.

“First-time DWI defendants are rarely forced into in-patient treatment. He will be unable to leave the facility for 30 days. His fine and community service requirements are more than double what is usually received, and his probation term is the maximum available, and longer than the usual 18 months,” Brown said. “All of that is appropriate in light of his behavior with the officers.”

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“First, I’ll say thanks for the courtesy of the court here today,” Travis said after his appearance at the Grayson County Court in Sherman, Texas. “And, to the two patrolmen, I’ll say thanks to them for obviously taking care of me that night. I met them today for the first time. And thanks also for the concern and the words of encouragement across the country as we continue to travel.”

“I’m glad it’s behind me. I’m looking forward to getting on with the year and playing some music,” he added. (Watch the video above.)

Two weeks after his DWI arrest, Travis was cited for getting into a fight at a church parking lot with a woman’s estranged husband. He pleaded not guilty to the assault charges last month. He had been arrested for public intoxication in February 2012, as well.

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