Pop star Britney Spears on Thursday was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, prosecutors outside Los Angeles said — but she could avoid jail time with a plea deal.<\/p>\n
The criminal complaint does not specify which substance the 44-year-old singer was allegedly using when she was arrested in early March.<\/p>\n
Spears is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday in a courtroom in Ventura County, which borders Los Angeles County.<\/p>\n
She is not required to attend the hearing because the charge is a misdemeanor, and can be represented by her attorney, prosecutors said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Spears had phenomenal early music success in the late 1990s with hits like “…Baby One More Time” but has largely stepped back from music in recent years.<\/p>\n
Following her arrest, a representative for the singer described the incident as “completely inexcusable” and said Spears would “take the right steps and comply with the law.”<\/p>\n
Since then, she checked herself into rehab.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said in their statement that Spears could avoid jail time by agreeing to a plea deal — a typical move in cases with no prior convictions, no injury, a low blood alcohol level and defendants who voluntarily enter a rehab program.<\/p>\n
Such a move would likely result in a guilty plea for reckless driving involving drugs and\/or alcohol, which would see her placed on probation for 12 months. She would also have to take a court-ordered driver safety class and pay a fine.<\/p>\n
“This offer will be extended to Ms Spears on Monday,” prosecutors said.<\/p>\n
Following a public breakdown in 2007, Spears was placed under the conservatorship of her father Jamie Spears, who controlled her money and her personal life, even as she continued to perform high-profile concerts.<\/p>\n
The conservatorship was dissolved by a Los Angeles court in 2021, after a groundswell of public support to “Free Britney.”<\/p>\n
In her 2023 memoir “The Woman in Me,” Spears insisted she never did hard drugs and that she did not have a drinking problem, but she admitted that she was taking Adderall, the ADHD medication.<\/p>\n
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