Tiger Woods pleaded no contest to willful, wanton and reckless driving and refusing to submit to a urine test in a brief hearing Wednesday at the Martin County Courthouse in Martin, Fla.
Woods agreed to two concurrent five-year suspensions of his driver’s license and was fined $1,000 in exchange for a DUI charge originating from his March crash on a residential road being dropped.
Judge Darren Steele told Woods the simultaneous five-year revocations of his license would be served concurrently rather than consecutively for a total of 10 years, but warned he must strictly follow the driving ban.
“There are no exceptions. If you were to drive for any reason … you go immediately back to jail,” Steele said during the hearing Wednesday.
Police reporting to the scene on March 27 suspected Woods was driving under the influence and impaired when he clipped a truck and rolled his vehicle on a beachfront road on Jupiter Island.
Woods, 50, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor DUI with property damage and refusal to submit to a lawful test in his initial court hearing.
Woods and the driver of the other vehicle were uninjured in the crash. Deputies said Woods claimed he was looking down at his phone and changing the radio station when he hit the truck.
Attorney Douglas Duncan, who represents Woods, filed notice of the change of plea hearing Tuesday. A defendant is required to appear in-person for such hearings. The Wednesday court appearance came days before Woods was scheduled to appear at a status hearing on Sept. 8.
Duncan represented Woods in court when the legendary golfer had DUI charges reduced to reckless driving in 2017.
He also successfully lobbied Steele in April to permit Woods to travel outside the country to receive “comprehensive inpatient treatment” after his March arrest. Officers said they found two pain-killing pills in Woods’ pocket at the scene.
He was accompanied to the courtroom on Wednesday by girlfriend Vanessa Trump.
–Field Level Media
