Tiger Woods avoids jail after pleading guilty to reckless driving

Tiger Woods pleaded guilty to reckless driving and agreed to enter a diversion programme on Friday, five months after he was found passed out in his Mercedes with prescription drugs and marijuana in his system.

Woods, 41, spoke only briefly during a hearing at a Palm Beach County courthouse, answering questions from a judge about his plea agreement. Prosecutors dropped his driving under the influence charge, and the judge warned him to stay out of trouble.

“This particular plea agreement has no jail time on it. However, if you violate your probation in any significant way, I could revoke your probation and then I could sentence you to jail for 90 days with a fine of up to $500, is that understood?” Judge Sandra Bosso-Pardo said. Woods nodded. He did not make any statement during the hearing or outside the courthouse.

In the diversion programme, Woods will spend a year on probation and pay a $250 fine and court costs. He has already met some of the programme’s other requirements, completing 50 hours of community service at the Tiger Woods Foundation, prosecutor Dave Aronberg said.

Aronberg didn’t say specifically what Woods did with the charitable group, but said he met the terms of the deal. Woods also attended a workshop where victims of impaired drivers detail how their lives were damaged. Since he was intoxicated with prescription drugs and marijuana, according to court records, he will also be required to undergo regular drug tests.

Woods was arrested at about 2am on 29 May when officers found him unconscious in his Mercedes, which was parked awkwardly on the roadside and had damage to the driver’s side. It’s not clear how he damaged the car. Officers checked the area but didn’t find that he had hit anything. He was about 15 miles from his home.

His arrest was recorded by an officer’s dashcam video and released to the public.
Woods had the active ingredient for marijuana, two painkillers Vicodin and Dilaudid the sleep drug Ambien and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in his system but no alcohol, according to a toxicology report released in August. He completed a drug treatment programme in July. Woods has said he had been self-medicating to relieve the pain from his fourth back surgery and insomnia.

Woods has not competed since February because of his back injury and is not expected to return this year. His last win was in August 2013.