Britney Spears pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge of reckless driving in the driving under the influence case against her, sparing the 44-year-old from any jail time.
The pop star, who was initially charged with driving while under the combined influence of alcohol and at least one drug, did not appear in court in Ventura county. Because she faced a misdemeanor, she was not required to attend proceedings.
The Ventura county district attorney, Erik Nasarenko, confirmed she made the plea through her lawyer, taking responsibility at the “earliest stage”, and had agreed to continue to undergo treatment. She will to be sentenced to a year of informal probation, is required to take a DUI class and must pay state-mandated fines.
Police arrested Spears on 4 March after stopping her on US 101 in southern California for allegedly driving her BMW fast and erratically. The California highway patrol said she appeared to be impaired and was arrested and transported to county jail after taking a series of field sobriety tests.
The next day the singer was released on bail. She voluntarily entered a substance abuse treatment program in the month after the arrest.
Spears’s representative described her actions “completely inexcusable” and said it would ideally be “the first step in long-overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life”.
The Ventura county district attorney’s office had said ahead of the hearing that Spears would be able to plead guilty to the lesser charge, a common offer for first time offenders who are willing to undergo treatment. Nasarenko said that while a misdemeanor, driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol was a serious crime with “catastrophic consequences”.
As part of her plea, Spears has agreed to have a “diminished expectation of privacy in her car”, Nasarenko said, and must submit to searches and sobriety tests if stopped by a police officer. She also agreed to continue ongoing mental health and substance abuse treatment and to regularly see a psychologist and psychiatrist.
“We do not want Ms Spears to reoffend,” Nasarenko said, emphasizing the importance of “treatment and rehabilitation”. “Bottom line, whether you are a famous singer or a schoolteacher, we want the same thing for each and every first time misdemeanor offender.”
Spears, who was at the forefront of pop music for nearly two decades, previously spent nearly 14 years under a conservatorship. The legal arrangement, which a judge terminated in 2021, required her to pay attorneys to manage her life and did not allow her to make decisions about her personal affairs, career or finances.
She released singles in 2022 and 2023 with Elton John and will.i.am, but has since said she will not return to the music industry and has made few public appearances.
The Associated Press contributed