Senator pleads guilty to drunk driving

CNN Wire Service

Sen. Michael Crapo, arrested in December for driving drunk in Virginia, pleaded guilty Friday to the charges, which came with a $250 fine and a year-long suspension of his driver’s license.

A 180-day jail sentence was suspended on condition of good behavior. Last week Crapo’s spokesman said the Idaho Republican would not contest the charges.

Crapo was arrested at 12:45 a.m. ET on December 23 in the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia after a police officer noticed his vehicle running a red light. Alexandria police said Crapo’s blood alcohol level was .110 at the time of his arrest.

A second blood alcohol test taken at a detention center registered a different blood alcohol level, according to Crapo’s spokesman Lindsay Nothern, but he was not certain why the levels differed.

Crapo has not spoken about the circumstances surrounding the incident, but said in a statement Friday he was “grateful to have this matter resolved and will follow through on the sentence imposed by the court.”

“I sincerely regret the choice I made because tragic consequences can result from combining drinking and driving. I am grateful that no one was injured,” Crapo continued. “I am profoundly sorry for the pain and embarrassment that I have brought to my family, to Idahoans, to my church, to my colleagues in the U.S. Senate and my staff, to anyone who has placed their trust in me.”

He has represented Idaho in the Senate since 1999, and before that served in the U.S. House of Representatives for six years. Crapo was re-elected in 2010 with 71% of the vote and is a member of the Senate’s “Gang of 8.”

According to his official biography, Crapo is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which prohibits the use of alcohol among its members.