Hope Solo, the retired star goalie of the U.S. women’s soccer team, pleaded guilty on Monday to driving while impaired after she was found passed out behind the wheel in March with her 2-year-old twins in the backseat.
Solo, 40, was given a suspended sentence of 24 months and an active sentence of 30 days, though she received 30 days credit for time she spent at an inpatient rehabilitation facility for the incident in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
SOCCER LEGEND HOPE SOLO CHARGED WITH DWI WITH CHILDREN IN CAR: REPORT
“I pride myself in motherhood and what my husband and I have done day in and day out for over two years throughout the pandemic with two-year-old twins. While I’m proud of us, it was incredibly hard and I made a mistake. Easily the worst mistake of my life. I underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become,” Solo tweeted Monday. “The upside of making a mistake this big is that hard lessons are learned quickly.”
A judge also ordered that Solo pay $2,500 in fines and a $600 fee to cover the cost of lab tests, and she was directed to complete a substance abuse assessment and other recommended treatment, according to the Associated Press.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist was also charged with misdemeanor child abuse and resisting a police officer, though those charges were voluntarily dismissed.
Solo was arrested at a shopping center in April after a bystander noticed her passed out behind the wheel and that the vehicle was running for over an hour, according to an arrest warrant. She had a blood alcohol content level of 0.24%, three times the legal limit to drive, police said.
Solo was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in January, though she later requested her induction, scheduled for May, be postponed due to entering an inpatient alcohol treatment program.
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The soccer player has had several prior run-ins with law enforcement. In 2014, she was arrested on charges of hitting her sister and then-17-year-old nephew, which were dropped in 2018.
Solo also faced a six-month suspension by U.S. Soccer in 2016 after she made “unacceptable” comments following a loss to the Swedish soccer team.
