A “Dancing With the Stars” contestant has pled guilty to a DWI charge in North Carolina.
Hope Solo, who appears in police and court records as Hope Amelia Stevens, was arrested March 31, 2021, in Winston-Salem, and charged with driving while impaired, misdemeanor child abuse and resisting a public officer.
Law enforcement approached Solo while she was in a vehicle in the parking lot of the Winston-Salem Walmart with her two children, twins Lozen and Vittorio, in the car, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
Following her arrest — and ahead of her scheduled court date — Solo voluntarily entered rehab.
“I have contacted the Hall of Fame and respectfully requested a postponement of my Hall of Fame induction ceremony to 2023. I will be voluntarily entering an in-patient alcohol treatment program to address my challenges with alcohol,” Solo captioned an Instagram post on April 29, 2022, ahead of the National Soccer Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Solo spent 30 days at Hope Valley Inc. in Pilot Mountain.
Solo appeared in court on Monday, July 25, 2022, where she entered her guilty plea, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Judge Sentenced Solo in Court
For the DWI charge, Forsyth District Judge Victoria Roemer issued Solo “a suspended sentence of 24 months and an active sentence of 30 days.” The former soccer goalkeeper “was given 30 days credit for time she spent at an in-patient rehabilitation facility,” the Winston-Salem Journal reports.
Additionally, Judge Roemer “ordered Solo to pay $2,500 in fines and a $600 fee for the cost of the lab tests. She also has to get a substance abuse assessment and complete all recommended treatment.”
Solo, who surrendered her driver’s license, had the other two charges — misdemeanor child abuse and resisting a public officer — “voluntarily dismissed.”
If Solo pays the fines and completes the other sentencing items, Judge Roemer said that she will not have to serve the 24 months behind bars.
Solo Called Her Actions ‘the Worst Mistake of [Her] Life’
Solo posted a statement on Instagram after her court appearance.
“It’s been a long road, but I’m slowly coming back from taking time off. 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,” she wrote.
“While I’m proud of us, it was incredibly hard and I made a huge mistake. Easily the worst mistake of my life. I underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become,” she continued.
Solo went on to thank her husband and her friends for their support through this challenging time in her life. She also thanked her lawyers.
“The upside of making a mistake this big is that hard lessons are learned quickly. Learning these lessons has been difficult, and at times, very painful,” she wrote.
On July 30, 2022, the two-time Olympic gold medalist celebrated her 41st birthday with her kids.
“41 and having fun in the sun. Life has just begun,” Solo captioned a photo with her babies playing on a beach.
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DWTS Semi-Finalist Pleads Guilty to DWI Charge