Criminal Justice

Federal judge sentenced to probation in drunk driving case

handcuffs, keys and drink

A Michigan federal judge has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor drunk driving charges. (Image from Shutterstock)

A federal judge in Michigan has been sentenced to six months of probation after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor drunk driving charge, Reuters reports.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington of the Eastern District of Michigan, who is based in Bay City, Michigan, was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Angela Lasher in the 90th District Court in Emmet County, Michigan. He also was ordered to pay $1,175 in fees and costs.

Ludington, 72, was arrested in October after crashing his wife’s car. In April, he pleaded no contest to a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of ⁠Michigan said in February he was taking a leave of absence pending the resolution of the DUI case.

“Judge Ludington apologized again in court today, to the Judge and to the community for the concern this issue has caused,” Jonathan Steffy, a lawyer for Ludington at Harris Law, said in a written statement obtained by Reuters.