Tiger Woods‘ DUI case reached a resolution on Wednesday morning, five months after his car crash. The 15-time major champion was scheduled to appear before a Martin County judge in Stuart, Florida, for a “change-of-plea” hearing on September 2 at 8:30 a.m. ET. The wait ended with a verdict that will keep him off the road for years.
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As reported by NUCLR GOLF, “Tiger Woods will have his driver’s license suspended for 5 years after pleading guilty to reckless driving and refusal to submit to a lawful test after his crash on Jupiter Island, Florida, back in March.”
At today’s hearing, Judge Darren Steele, in charge of Woods’ case, accepted change of plea agreement. As a result, prosecutors amended his original DUI-with-property-damage charge down to reckless driving, second offense. Additionally, Woods’ refusal to submit to a lawful test at the scene charge was resolved with a guilty plea and a separate careless driving citation.
Judge Steele has imposed a 5-year driving license suspension for Woods for the reckless driving charge. Woods was ordered to pay $18.44 to the state attorney’s office. Moreover, the refusal charge added another $500 and a five-year suspension, running concurrently with the first.
Judge Steele did not soften his warning. He told Woods the suspension “is for the safety of the public,” before adding that any violation of the ruling under any circumstances would send Woods “immediately back to jail.” Tiger Woods also agreed to accept no hardship exemptions under the five-year term. The court has given him up to four months to pay his fine and costs, though he settled the full amount at the hearing itself. That being said, he has 30 days to appeal the ruling.
As previously reported, the case traces back to March 27. Tiger Woods tried to pass a truck on a Jupiter Island road near his home. However, his Land Rover clipped the trailer and rolled onto the side, causing roughly $5,000 in damage. Fortunately, nobody was injured, but deputies found two hydrocodone pills in his pocket. A breath analyzer showed no alcohol, but Woods refused a urine test for drugs at the time.
Four days later, on March 31, his attorney, Douglas Duncan, entered a not guilty plea and demanded a jury trial. Tiger Woods released a statement soon after, saying he was “stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment,” citing his health. The judge also approved his request to travel out of the country for inpatient care on April 1st.
The legal fight over evidence dragged through spring and summer. In May, the judge granted prosecutors access to Woods’ prescription records from a Palm Beach pharmacy covering January through March under a protective order limiting who could view them. In June, a separate ruling gave prosecutors access to his hospital records from the facility that treated him after the crash.
In the months after the crash, Woods largely remained out of the public eye. On September 1, his attorney, Douglas Duncan, filed the notice that set up Wednesday’s change-of-plea hearing in Martin County.
No details on the plea change were released beforehand. That said, the five-year suspension now closes the loudest chapter of the case that had shadowed Tiger Woods’ comeback plans since the spring.