No guilty plea involved
"He did not enter any guilty plea. The "deal" included specifically that he entered a plea of not guilty. If he were to fail to keep his end of the deal, there would not be a guilty plea waiting to be entered. Instead, the prosecutor could go forward and attempt to prove his case. That's all."
That's my reading of the details too Henry.
He was not found guilty of anything, especially the 10 felony counts the local DA claimed in the press to have him dead to rights on for the last two years.
Limbaugh has been on random drug testing as part of his rehab program and that will continue under legal supervision now for another 18 months.
As to the question, "would any normal citizen get this kind of deal?"
(I'll set aside my speech on envy and class warfare at this point)
Not only yes, but heck yes. First offenders, not involved in dealing, routinely get out with a slap on the wrist, a fine (sometimes) and probation. Feel free to go to 26th and California in Chicago and sit in the back of any courtroom and see it for yourself.
No conviction on his record, no guilty plea and in a year and a half it all goes away.
Fighting the addiction demons goes on for the rest of his life. On that, I wish him the best.
The end result is the local DA looks kind of silly, with a three year investigation, lots of press conferences, and accusations of felony counts and a Friday afternoon fine and probeation with out even a guilty plea.
I predict that D.A. Nifong, in the Duke case, will probably wind up in the same situation by the time all is said and done in Raleigh.
