Justin Timberlake pleads guilty to lesser charge to resolve drunk driving case

The "Cry Me a River" singer was arrested in Sag Harbor, N.Y., in June and charged with driving while intoxicated.

Justin Timberlake may have just un-ruined the world tour.

The "Cry Me a River" singer pleaded guilty to a less serious offense to resolve his drunk driving case in New York on Friday, seemingly wrapping up a three-month legal saga.

Appearing in Sag Harbor Village Court, Timberlake, 43, pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired, his lawyer Edward Burke Jr. announced at a press conference on Friday. The NSYNC frontman had initially been charged with driving while intoxicated. He will pay a fine and perform community service, including recording a public safety announcement about the dangers of drunk driving.

"Even if you've had one drink, don't get behind the wheel of a car," Timberlake said at the press conference on Friday. "There's so many alternatives. Call a friend, take an Uber, take a taxi. This is a mistake I made, but I hope whoever's watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake. I certainly have."

Timberlake was arrested June 18 in Sag Harbor, according to a news release from the Sag Harbor Police Department. Authorities alleged that Timberlake failed to stop at a stop sign and struggled to remain in his lane of travel.

"Upon investigation it was determined that Mr. Timberlake was operating his vehicle in an intoxicated condition," police said. He was released the following morning and pleaded not guilty to a revised misdemeanor charge of driving drunk.

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A criminal complaint obtained by NBC News alleged that Timberlake told authorities, "I had one martini and I followed my friends home" during the traffic stop. Officer Michael Arkinson wrote that Timberlake "was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot, and he performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests." The singer was driving to a friend's home after dining at the American Hotel in the Hamptons.

Timberlake's case has spawned headlines and memes, particularly in the wake of a Page Six report quoting an anonymous source who claimed that Timberlake said mid-arrest that the incident was "going to ruin the tour." When asked what tour, he reportedly replied, "The world tour."

At a concert in Chicago a few days after his arrest, Timberlake seemingly addressed the incident on stage. "We've been together through ups and downs, lefts and rights," he said. "It's been a tough week, but you're here and I'm here, and nothing can change this moment right now."

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On Aug. 2, Sag Harbor Village Justice Carl Irace suspended Timberlake's driving privileges in the state of New York. His attorney Burke told PEOPLE, "The most important fact to know about this case is that Justin was not intoxicated and should not have been arrested for DWI. The police made a number of very significant errors in this case. In court today, you heard the district attorney try to fix one of those errors. But that’s just one and there are many others. Sometimes the police make mistakes and this is just one of those instances."

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Burke's comments prompted Judge Irace to threaten the attorney with a gag order, stating that he should "be more mindful when giving comments" as "it comes off as an attempt to poison the case before it even begins."

Timberlake is currently in the midst of his "Forget Tomorrow" World Tour, with more than 30 shows left around the world through early 2025.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.