Tiger Woods Ready to Reach Plea Deal in DUI Case

Sports

Golf legend will enter diversion therapy in order to have his record wiped clean

Tiger Woods
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Tiger Woods has agreed to plead guilty to reckless driving and enter diversion therapy to avoid a driving-under-the-influence charge, the New York Times reports.

Woods did not appear at the Palm Beach County courthouse for his arraignment Wednesday, but prosecutor Adrienne Ellis said the golf legend had agreed to plead guilty at an Oct. 25 hearing and enter the county’s program for first-time offenders, the Times said.

Woods was arrested on May 29 and charged with driving under the influence.

The arrest occurred around 7 a.m. on Monday morning in Jupiter, Fla. Woods was released a few hours later under his own recognizance, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reported. Woods told the arresting officers he was using Vicodin and Xanax to cope with pain stemming from his fourth back surgery.

Woods tweeted in June that he was “receiving professional help to help manage my medications and the ways that I deal with back pain and a sleep disorder.”
The upcoming diversion program will require the 41-year-old to spend a year on probation, pay a $250 fine and court costs, attend DUI school and perform 50 hours of community service. He will also have to attend a workshop where victims of impaired drivers detail how their lives were damaged, and face other conditions.
If found guilty of the more severe charge of DUI, he could face up to six months in prison, hefty fines and the loss of his license.

“He is not being treated any different than anyone else,” Ellis said Wednesday, according to the Times.

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