Morgan Wallen Pleads Guilty To Misdemeanor Reckless Endangerment In Chair-Throwing Arrest, Sentenced To Seven Days Incarceration In A DUI Education Center
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Morgan Wallen Pleads Guilty To Misdemeanor Reckless Endangerment In Chair-Throwing Arrest, Sentenced To Seven Days Incarceration In A DUI Education Center

Starting the new year on probation. Morgan Wallen pled guilty to misdemeanor reckless endangerment today in Davidson County court, bringing to an end a legal saga that started back in April when the country music superstar was arrested for allegedly throwing a chair off the rooftop of Eric Church's downtown Nashville bar, Chief's. The chair reportedly landed near two Nashville police officers who were standing on the sidewalk below, and Morgan was pointed out by patrons on the rooftop as the one who threw it. It was then confirmed by surveillance video, with Morgan ultimately being arrested and charged with three counts of felony reckless endangerment and one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. The first hearing on the case was back in May, with Morgan not required to attend, so his first time in court was set to be today for a preliminary hearing. But earlier this week, that hearing was abruptly rescheduled to Tuesday as the charges were dismissed and bound over to the grand jury. But yesterday, new charges were filed by a criminal information that reduced two of his felony reckless endangerment charges to misdemeanors, and Morgan's attorney Worrick Robinson requested that the court set a hearing in the case for today. (An information versus an indictment usually indicates a plea agreement and waives a defendant's right to have their case heard by a grand jury). Ahead of the hearing, it was reported that all three of his felony charges were being reduced to misdemeanors. But this morning, the Davidson County court records showed that one of those charges was still a felony, while two were misdemeanors in addition to the misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. During his first time in court on the case today, Morgan entered a guilty plea to two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment, with the other two charges being dismissed. Judge Cynthia Chappell sentenced the singer to 11 months and 29 days in jail on each count, with all but seven days suspended. Those seven days are to be served in a DUI education center. The remainder of his sentence will be served on supervised probation, and will be served consecutively for a total of two years on probation. The plea agreement is subject to judicial diversion, which means that Morgan will be able to petition the court to have his record expunged if he successfully completes probation. Morgan spoke at the hearing only to confirm that he was pleading guilty, and to confirm that he understood the plea agreement and his rights as a defendant. After the short hearing, the country star and his attorney left the court without speaking to the media. So far, the only statement Morgan has issued on the incident has been his initial statement after the arrest in which he apologized and expressed his respect for law enforcement: “I didn’t feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks. I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I’m not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility. I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe. Regarding my tour, there will be no change. -MW” Since the arrest, Morgan has wrapped up his record-breaking One Night At A Time tour, and also been crowned Entertainer of the Year at the CMA Awards last month.