CLINTON COUNTY, MI (AP)-- A Marquette lawmaker has pleaded guilty to drunken driving stemming from an incident in which authorities say he was speeding, swerving and driving with an open bottle of whiskey.
Democratic Representative John Kivela made the plea to a first-offense charge Friday in Clinton County court. Prosecutors dropped a more serious charge of operating while intoxicated with a high-blood-alcohol content.
Police say Kivela’s blood-alcohol level was about three times the legal limit after a sheriff's deputy stopped him November 9 near Lansing.
Kivela's spokesman Joshua Pugh said in a statement that Kivela's "recovery program has been going very well." Kivela apologized in an earlier statement and said he was seeking treatment for alcoholism.
Sentencing has been scheduled for January 19.
