By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press
SAG HARBOR, N.Y. (AP) — Justin Timberlake urged drivers not to get behind the wheel of a car after even a single alcoholic drink on Friday, shortly after pleading guilty to driving while impaired in New York’s Hamptons earlier this year.
The public safety announcement in front of the Sag Harbor police department was part of the plea deal he struck with prosecutors to resolve the criminal case. He was also sentenced to a $500 fine with a $260 surcharge, 25 hours of community service at the nonprofit of his choosing and a 90-day suspension of his license.
The boy band singer-turned-solo star and actor appeared in the adjacent Sag Harbor Village Court to enter the guilty plea and expressed remorse for his actions.
“I try to hold myself to a very high standard, for myself, and this was not that,” Timberlake told the news media and other onlookers after the hearing.
“Even if you’ve had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car,” he said. “There’s so many alternatives. Call a friend. Take an Uber. There’s many travel apps. Still, take a taxi. This is a mistake that I made, but I’m hoping that whoever is watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake. I know that I certainly have.”
He made similar comments during the court hearing and said he grew up in a small town and appreciated the kind of strain his arrest has made on Sag Harbor. He said he has had a lot of time to reflect on his actions.
Timberlake said he is “grateful for the opportunity to move forward” and use his platform to hopefully help others make “better decisions.“
“I should’ve had better judgment,” he said to the judge. “I understand the seriousness of this.”
Judge Carl Irace expressed disappointment with the proposed plea deal put forward by prosecutors. He questioned the appropriateness of the public announcement Timberlake intended to make shortly after the court proceedings. He was concerned it did not give proper time for him to reflect on his actions and for that reason he said he was adding on community service requirements to the sentence.
“My experience is that these conditions can prove helpful and even gratifying for the accused,” the judge said.
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.
Edward Burke Jr., Timberlake’s attorney, maintained outside the court after Friday’s hearing that his client only had one drink in two hours at the American Hotel. “Contrary to what was reported, he wasn’t drinking other peoples’ drinks, or warned in advance not to drive,” said Burke, adding that Timberlake was also polite and cooperative during his arrest.
Burke said the lesser charge Timberlake pleaded to is “consistent with these facts.”
Prosecutor Patrick O’Connell told the judge Timberlake giving a public service announcement hopefully would show that no one is above the law and even celebrities can be treated like everyone else. He said prosecutors also weighed recommending community service, but thought the announcement would be a valuable service in itself because of its potential effect on young people.
Timberlake was arrested in Sag Harbor 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 affects 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 has been on tour for months in support of his latest album. He returns to the New York City area in the coming weeks with concerts in Newark in New Jersey and in Brooklyn.
Among those outside the police station Friday to hear Timberlake speak was a local mother who said her 12-year-old son was killed by a drunk driver in 2018. Alisa McMorris, who now runs a foundation in her son’s memory, said she hoped Timberlake’s remarks would help bring more awareness to the dangers of driving under the influence.
“Justin has such a huge platform to the next generation. People listen to him,” she said after the singer had departed. “Five words I tell the kids when I go to the high schools is ‘How are we getting home?’ and he spoke about that. Make a plan. I don’t want another sister or a family to have to go through what we did.”
___
Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
___
Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.