Kiefer Sutherland plea deal calls for jail time

[Brian Damage]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Kiefer Sutherland, star of the TV hit "24," pleaded no contest to drunken driving on Tuesday in a deal with prosecutors that would land him in jail for 48 days but let him serve the time without disrupting his show.

Sutherland, who plays a secret agent with nerves of steel on "24," was hailed by the Fox network and producers of his show for working out a plea bargain that put the good of the series above concerns for his own liberty.

If approved by a judge, the sentencing deal would permit him to serve 18 days in jail in late December and early January, when production of the show is on holiday hiatus, and another 30 days once the series is off the air for the summer.

"He told us that even if he had to sacrifice more time in custody in order to protect the show and the jobs of those who work with him, he would do so. From what occurred today, it is evident he is a man of his word," the network and its sister studio, 20th Century Fox Television, said in a statement.

Sutherland, 40, whose plea in Los Angeles Superior Court was entered by his lawyer, was arrested last month while still on probation for a 2004 drunken driving offense.

In the latest case, he was charged with two misdemeanor counts that carried a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $500 fine each. He also faced up to six additional months behind bars for violating his probation.

Under the agreement with the City Attorney's Office, Sutherland pleaded no contest -- the equivalent of guilty -- to a single count of driving with blood alcohol level above the legal limit.

Prosecutors have recommended that he serve 30 days for that charge plus 18 days for violating his probation in the 2004 case. But the final sentence is up to a judge to decide.

He also will be barred from driving before May 9, 2008. Moreover, prosecutors recommended that he be ordered to enroll in an 18-month alcohol education program and attend weekly counseling sessions on alcohol abuse.

Sutherland, who was not in court at the time his plea was entered, issued a statement apologizing for his "poor judgment" and the "distress this has caused by family, friends and co-workers."

The Canadian performer, the son of screen star Donald Sutherland, won an Emmy Award last year for starring on "24" as the terrorist-fighting secret agent Jack Bauer. The show, which averaged 13.5 million viewers earlier this year, returns for its seventh season on Fox in January.