VERO BEACH — California comedian Ron White won’t serve time in jail on drug charges as a judge has accepted his plea deal.

Indian River County Court Judge Joe Wild on Tuesday issued his sentencing ruling in writing, without White having to be present.

In November, White’s local attorney, Jeff Battista, and prosecutors reached a plea deal, which Wild accepted: six months probation along with fines and fees and suspension of his driving privileges for two years.

Until the court conditions are met, White “is declining to make statements about the case,” Battista said Wednesday.

On Sept. 10, Vero Beach Police arrested White, 52, just after he flew into Vero Beach in a private airplane in preparation for a performance in Fort Pierce. He was jailed and charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana, valued at $10, and drug paraphernalia, police reports show. Police said they were tipped that he might have drugs.

Based on the circumstances of the case, the plea agreement is reasonable, Wild wrote in his ruling.

White didn’t have to appear in court.

While on probation, White has to pay $1,460 in fines and fees. Also, he is to either serve 200 hours community or pay $10 for each hour — a $2,000 fee that Battista said his client is opting to take.

The suspension of driving privileges is mandatory in most drug cases in the state. The court ruling “is reported to and often does apply to licensing in other states,” Battista said. Other states sometime give hardship exemptions allowing some driving.

By Eliot Jones, TCPalm.com

Tags: comedian, court, drugs, plea, ron white

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 8th, 2009 at 11:46 am and is filed under Courts, Crime, Weird News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.