A Michigan lawmaker who pleaded guilty to driving drunk was sentenced to probation and fined Friday.
Rep. Mary Cavanagh, 30, received the recommended sentence of a $500 fine plus other fines, a 10-day work program, two years of probation and must appear for sobriety court.
The Redford Democrat pleaded guilty in Aprilto operating while intoxicated following her Feb. 25 arrest in the Livonia area.
“I just wanted to apologize to the court, to the community and also to myself for my decisions,” Cavanagh told the judge. “But I am looking forward to using this to become a better person, and I am seeing that there is another life, and it’s (a) sober life, and I am very much looking forward to that, given the opportunity to be granted into sobriety court.”
It was Cavanagh’s second time being arrested by Livonia police for drunken driving, the first time being in 2015. That time she pleaded down to a lesser impaired driving charge.
Sobriety court would require Cavanagh to receive treatment to get sober and would allow her to potentially get her license back with restrictions, including a required car breathalyzer.
Her lawyer, Todd Perkins, has said Cavanagh intends to utilize her time in sobriety court to educate others on the path to recovery.
Cavanagh’s lawyer told WDIV-TV that she does not plan on resigning from her position in the Michigan House of Representatives.
On April 25, Livonia police said that Cavanagh was swerving on I-96 with two flat tires on the driver’s side of the vehicle. An officer followed her onto a freeway, where she swerved between the right and center lanes.
During the traffic stop, the representative took a breathalyzer test and blew a 0.17, or more than twice the legal limit of 0.08. A later blood test showed Cavanagh’s blood alcohol level was 0.20, officials said.