Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa is expected to plead guilty to misdemeanor reckless driving under the terms of a four-page plea agreement obtained Sunday by the Chicago Sun-Times.
A so-called change-of-plea hearing has been set for Dec. 21 in La Russa’s driving-under-the-influence case in Maricopa County, Arizona. La Russa has asked to appear by telephone.
Most notably, the plea deal states La Russa “shall serve one (1) day in jail.” According to the court document, the charge he’s facing carries a maximum sentence of four months detention.
The plea agreement also appears to note that prosecutors aren’t opposed to La Russa serving out the short sentence through either a work-release program or home detention, should he qualify.
La Russa also would reimburse Maricopa County for the costs of his incarceration, pay a $1,383 fine and complete 20 hours of “community restitution.”
He also “may be placed on unsupervised probation,” the document states.
The case began when a witness called police Feb. 24 to report a vehicle “swerving across all lanes” of a highway in Arizona. The witness said the vehicle had hit a curb and had begun to smoke before coming to a stop, according to public records. An officer found the vehicle, a gray Lexus RX350, and identified the driver as La Russa.
La Russa told the officer he had been “coming from a dinner with my friends with the California Angels baseball team,” had a tire blow out and was calling AAA, records show. But the officer smelled alcohol. And tests allegedly showed La Russa’s blood-alcohol concentration was 0.095 — above the legal limit of 0.08.
While speaking with the officer, La Russa allegedly said, “Do you see my ring?” And he complained, “I’m a Hall of Famer baseball person … I’m legit.
“I’m a Hall of Famer, brother. You’re trying to embarrass me.”
A Sox spokesman said a comment from the club can be expected “when this all becomes official on Dec. 21.”
Contributing: Tom Schuba
