Justin Timberlake pleads guilty in connection to DWI case

Justin Timberlake entered a guilty plea Friday morning in connection to his DWI case.

Timberlake arrived at the Sag Harbor Village Justice Courthouse on Long Island, New York, alongside his attorney Edward Burke Jr.

As part of a deal reached with the court, Timberlake pleaded guilty to a noncriminal traffic violation of driving while impaired.

Finding the agreement lacking, Judge Carl Irace, who suspended Timberlake’s license in a hearing last month, asked Timberlake if he would be willing to volunteer at a nonprofit of his choosing. 

“I’d be willing to,” Timberlake responded, agreeing to 25 to 40 hours of community service. He also agreed to pay a fine.

After the hearing, Timberlake spoke outside the courthouse and told reporters that he tries to hold himself “to a very high standard.”

“This was not that. I found myself in a position where I could have made a different decision,” he said. “Even if you had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car. There’s so many alternatives. Call a friend, take an Uber. … This was a mistake that I made, but I’m hoping that whoever’s watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake. I know that I certainly have.”

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney praised Timberlake for taking accountability “and for using his platform to increase public awareness about the dangers of drunk driving.”

“Drunk and drugged driving is an extremely serious nationwide public safety issue,” he said in a statement. “In 2024, with the prevalence and convenience of public transit and ride-shares, there is no excuse to get behind the wheel when you are impaired in any way.”

Timberlake’s attorney said that the singer had one drink in a two-hour span at the American Hotel.

“Contrary to what was reported he wasn’t drinking other people’s drinks or warned in advance not to drive,” he said. “He wasn’t rude, he wasn’t obnoxious, he wasn’t belligerent. In fact, he was polite, he was cooperative, he was respectful during his entire encounter with law enforcement as they were to him.”

The attorney said the plea to a reduced charge is consistent with the facts of the case.  

The Grammy winner was arrested June 18 on suspicion of intoxicated driving in the affluent Hamptons area of Long Island.

He had been enjoying an evening with friends at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor, before he got behind the wheel of a gray Florida-registered BMW. Timberlake was pulled over after he ran a stop sign and arrested after failing his field sobriety test, according to a Sag Harbor Village police report.

Timberlake said he had “one martini” before he got behind the wheel and was following his friends home. The officer who arrested the singer stated in his report that Timberlake’s “eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath, he was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot.”