Justin Timberlake Was Not Treated ‘Better’ in DWI Case Because of Fame

Justin Timberlake reportedly reached a plea deal following his June DWI arrest — but not because he’s a celebrity.

“The one thing that we want to make sure we’re doing is … being consistent, and we don’t want to treat any defendant better than others because of, you know, because of any perceived notoriety they may have,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told Page Six on Thursday, September 12. “But we certainly don’t want to treat people worse for the same reason.”

Tierney explained that his office is taking measures to ensure that Timberlake’s case gets treated “like any other case of its kind.” (Us Weekly has reached out to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for comment.)

Timberlake, 43, is set to appear in court on Friday, September 13.

“He’s charged with driving while intoxicated,” Tierney added in his statement on Thursday. “There’s a lesser charge [for] driving while impaired, which happens in a number of cases. So, we’re going to continue to negotiate the case. So, we’ll see. We’ll see how it plays out in court, whether or not we could come to an agreement.”

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TMZ reported on Wednesday that a judge had signed off on a plea deal to drop Timberlake’s DWI charge, lowering it to a traffic violation. Details of the plea are set to be confirmed on Friday, but the singer reportedly admitted to Driving While Ability Impaired, which is not a drunk driving offense. The publication also reported that Timberlake will most likely have to pay a fine between $300 and $500. The exact amount has yet to be confirmed.

Us Weekly confirmed in June that Timberlake was arrested by Sag Harbor, New York, police for driving while intoxicated. He was taken into custody and arraigned, eventually getting released without bail.

At the time, Timberlake received a charge of one DWI for allegedly failing to stop at a stop sign and not staying within his lane on the road. He appeared virtually at an arraignment last month and pleaded not guilty to a revised misdemeanor charge of drunk driving. Timberlake’s permission to drive in New York has been temporarily suspended.

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Timberlake has stayed mostly silent about the incident, only making one reference to his arrest days later. During his Forget Tomorrow World Tour in Chicago in June, the singer appeared to subtly address what went down.

“It’s been a tough week,” he said before singing the song “Selfish,” Us confirmed at the time. “I know sometimes I’m hard to love, but you keep on loving me and I love you right back.”