Hillsong’s Brian Houston Pleads Guilty to DUI, Given 6 Sentences by Judge

A month before Brian Houston resigned from his position as Global Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church after being accused by the leadership of committing indiscretions with two women and having a drinking problem, including getting drunk and spending nearly an hour in a woman’s hotel room in 2019, he visited the United States where he was arrested for drunk driving. 

According to arrest records, following a meal at an expensive restaurant, ( Countdown: Top 10 Most Expensive Meals Brian and Bobbie Houston Expensed to the Church (Number 4 is $2433.38) police stopped him after noticing he was driving erratically. Given a field sobriety test, he was discovered to have a blood alcohol level of .20%, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08%, and what experts say would constitute the “blackout drunk” stage.

Despite initially pleading ‘Not Guilty’ to driving while intoxicated and having a blood alcohol content of .08%, Houston changed his plea to ‘guilty.’ 

He was given a $140 fine and sentenced to three years of probation. Furthermore, Houston will also have to complete several DUI-related courses, including receiving victim impact counseling, attending a year of self-help meetings, and completing a three-month first-offender alcohol program. 

His legal troubles are not over, however. Those consequences resulted from having a BAA over 0.08%, but there are enhanced charges for having it over 0.20%, given the severity of the intoxication.

Sentencing for that charge has momentarily stayed at the request of Houston’s legal team, who likely will appeal it, given that courts typically impose harsher sentences if found guilty. Some of the penalties might be having to attend court-mandated weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or wear an alcohol monitoring device for a time.

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