Editors Note: This article was originally published on December 15, 2020. It was updated after Sam Hunt pleaded guilty to his DUI charges.
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Country music star Sam Hunt has pleaded guilty and is now receiving sentencing in his 2019 DUI case. According to the Nashville Tennessean Newspaper, Hunt will serve time in an "alternative sentencing facility" after pleading guilty to two counts of DUI on August 18th. Hunt had entered the plea at a hearing in July.
He received a sentence of 11 months and 29 days which was suspended except for 48 hours serving in the DUI Education Centers. The singer will also be required to complete an alcohol safety course and will lose his driver's license for a year. He will also be required to have an interlock installed in his car when his license is officially reinstated.
Below is information that was published before the new updated information was included.
Country singer Sam Hunt has been indicted by a grand jury in Davidson County following his arrest on DUI charges in Nashville last year, The Tennessean reports. According to court papers, the singer will face charges of DUI and an open container violation.
Hunt was arrested on Nov. 21, 2019 in Nashville for allegedly driving under the influence and having an open container. WKRN-TV reports that the 34-year-old was stopped by Nashville police for driving the wrong way down an East Nashville road (Ellington Parkway near Ben Allen Road). Hunt was charged with a DUI and possessing an open container and was booked into the Metro jail around 6:30 a.m.
Per WKRN-TV, officers said Hunt was driving south in a northbound lane and his car was swerving in and out of his lane. After performing a traffic stop, officers said Hunt had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol. The singer also had two empty beer cans near him in the vehicle. Court documents obtained by WKRN reveal that Hunt, the only person in the vehicle, admitted to drinking alcohol "recently." According to the arrest warrant, Hunt had a blood alcohol content of .173. (The legal limit in Tennessee is .08.)
Hunt was released from jail on a $2,500 bond.
WKRN shared footage of Hunt's release from jail.
News 2 cameras were rolling as country music star Sam Hunt was released from the Metro jail.
MORE: https://t.co/WioekdGi0Y pic.twitter.com/GOAhrsLlM4
— WKRN News 2 (@WKRN) November 21, 2019
Hunt apologized for his actions on social media.
"Thursday night I decided to drive myself home after drinking at a friend's show in downtown Nashville," Hunt wrote on Twitter. "It was a poor and selfish decision and I apologize to everyone who was unknowingly put at risk and let down by it. It won't happen again."
The singer released his debut album Montevallo in 2014. The album spawned the hits "Leave the Night On," "Take Your Time," "House Party" and "Break Up in a Small Town." In 2017, Hunt released "Body Like a Backroad," which spent 20 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
Hunt released his album Southside, featuring "Hard to Forget," earlier this year.
This is a developing story.
