Jaime Pressly ordered to install ignition interlock after DWI
Friday, September 16th, 2011Actress-model Jaime Pressly grew up in North Carolina. The Lenoir County native is best known for her role in the television show “My Name is Earl.” In Early January, the North Carolina native was pulled over on the West Coast for allegedly committing a relatively minor traffic violation. During the traffic stop, police expanded the scope of the investigation to include an investigation of suspected drunk driving.
On the night of arrest Police say the actress had a blood-alcohol concentration in excess of .20. Pressly originally had pled not guilty to charges of DWI; however, the actress recently appeared in court after negotiating a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Under the state law where the charges were brought, the actress potentially faced up to six-months in jail for a DWI conviction. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Pressly can avoid spending any time in jail if she complies with the conditions of her probation. The judge ordered the actress to attend six-month alcohol education class. She has been sentenced to three years of informal probation, where she essentially will not need to regularly report to a probation officer.
In addition to the probationary term and the alcohol class, Pressly will have to have an ignition interlock device installed on her car. Ignition interlocks monitor the presence of alcohol in the driver and prevent the car from starting if alcohol is detected. The use of ignition interlock devices is being pushed heavily by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the devices are being used more frequently in North Carolina DWI cases.
Source: CBS News, “Jaime Pressly, ‘My Name is Earl’ star, sentenced to 3 yrs of probation in DUI case,” Aug. 29, 2011