Britney Spears reportedly left rehab Wednesday night, less than three weeks after news broke that she had entered treatment voluntarily after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. She’s due to be arraigned Monday on a single misdemeanor charge of DUI involving a combination of alcohol and a drug or drugs.
While it’s unclear when the pop star voluntarily checked herself into rehab, the public learned about it April 12, with a Spears representative confirming the move at the time. Spears’ most recent Instagram post at the time was from the day before. She or her team has since wiped all content from her account, where the 44-year-old mother of two regularly posted video of herself dancing in skimpy outfits.
She was charged Thursday in Ventura County with a single misdemeanor count of driving under the combined influence of alcohol and at least one drug.
The California Highway Patrol arrested Spears in Westlake Village at around 9 p.m. on March 4 after fielding reports of a person driving erratically on the 101 Freeway. While the drug or drugs involved were not specified in legal documents, a substance was found in Spears’ car that night. The BMW was searched again the next morning at a towing yard.
Sources told TMZ at the time that pills believed to be Adderall had been found in the car. Spears allegedly procures the drug during her regular trips to Mexico.
“This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable,” a Spears representative told The Times in a statement regarding the arrest.
The “Toxic” singer is not required to appear in person at Monday’s arraignment because the charge is a misdemeanor.
Prosecutors in the Ventura County district attorney’s office told CourtTV that they planned to deal with Spears’ case as a “wet reckless” situation, likely offering the singer the option to plead guilty to reckless driving involving alcohol and/or drugs, as opposed to DUI. Such plea deals are possible, the office said, when a defendant has no prior DUI history, has a low blood-alcohol level and doesn’t get into a crash or cause injury.
Spears could face 12 months’ probation, fines, fees and a DUI class, CourtTV said. She has been living outside of a long-running conservatorship since a judge terminated that supervision in November 2021.
A representative for Spears did not respond immediately Friday to The Times’ request for comment.
The post Britney Spears reportedly out of rehab and expecting a plea deal to be offered in DUI case appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
