FILE: Kiefer Sutherland plea deal calls for jail time

Actor Kiefer Sutherland, star of the TV hit "24," pleaded no contest to drunken driving on Tuesday (October 9) in a deal with prosecutors that would land him in jail for 48 days but let him serve the time without disrupting his show. Sutherland, who plays a secret agent with nerves of steel on "24," was hailed by the Fox network and producers of his show for working out a plea bargain that put the good of the series above concerns for his own liberty. If approved by a judge, the sentencing deal would permit him to serve 18 days in jail in late December and early January, when production of the show is on holiday hiatus, and another 30 days once the series is off the air for the summer. Sutherland, 40, whose plea in Los Angeles Superior Court was entered by his lawyer, was arrested last month while still on probation for a 2004 drunken driving offences. In the latest case, he was charged with two misdemeanour counts that carried a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a 500 U.S. dollar fine each. He also faced up to six additional months behind bars for violating his probation. Under the agreement with the City Attorney's Office, Sutherland pleaded no contest to a single count of driving with blood alcohol level above the legal limit. Prosecutors have recommended that he serve 30 days for that charge plus 18 days for violating his probation in the 2004 case. But the final sentence is up to a judge to decide. He also will be barred from driving before May 9, 2008. Moreover, prosecutors recommended that he be ordered to enrol in an 18-month alcohol education program and attend weekly counselling sessions on alcohol abuse. Sutherland, who was not in court at the time his plea was entered, issued a statement apologizing for his "poor judgement" and the "distress this has caused by family, friends and co-workers."

ITN Source | October 18, 2007

Tags:. .under. .air. .source. .tuesday. .case