Justin Timberlake dodges New York drunk driving charges in plea deal

Singer was arrested in June while driving in New York

Justin Timberlake’s booking photo. The former NSYNC member is planning to take a plea deal to avoid a drunk driving conviction, new reports reveal (Sag Harbor Police Department via Getty)

Justin Timberlake is set to take a plea deal in his drunk driving case that could lessen his charges.

The former NSYNC member will agree to plead guilty to a less serious crime than the drunk driving charge he faces, the Associated Press reports, citing a source familiar with the case. This means Timberlake could walk away with a traffic violation charge instead, according to the New York Post.

The 43-year-old will appear in court on Friday in Sag Harbor, New York, his lawyer Edward Burke told The Independent. Burke declined to comment on the deal or the proceedings.

The star was arrested in June in Sag Harbor for drunk driving. The arresting officer said he pulled Timberlake over after he didn’t stop at a stop sign and weaved in and out of his lane.

Timberlake said he had a single martini that night but refused to take a breathalyzer test.

Timberlake’s lawyer said the singer ‘cooperated’ with law enforcement ‘from the second he was ordered out of his car to the second he was charged’ (AP)

“His 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 and he performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests,” police said in court filings, according to the Associated Press.

Last month, Timberlake pleaded not guilty and Burke said he was not intoxicated while driving the night he was arrested.

Village Justice Carl Irace then suspended his New York driver’s license because he refused to take the breathalyzer test when he was pulled over. It was unclear how long the suspension will last.

In court, Burke argued that the arresting officers “made a number of very significant errors in this case.”

He said Timberlake “cooperated” with law enforcement “from the second he was ordered out of his car to the second he was charged.”

“You heard the DA try to fix one of those errors, but that’s just one, and there are many others,” he said. “Sometimes the police, like every one of us, make mistakes. And that’s the case in this very instance.”

Irace also chastised Burke for making “irresponsible” comments to the media.

He said his statements came off “as an attempt to poison the case before it even begins,” and encouraged Burke to be more careful moving forward.