Fitness star Jackie Warner reaches plea deal in DUI case: ‘Nothing she did that day was conscious’

Celebrity fitness trainer Jackie Warner agreed to a plea bargain Wednesday after prosecutors lowered the pending charges against her to a single misdemeanor count, allowing her to avoid time behind bars.

Warner, 48, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of alcohol-related reckless driving, also known as “wet reckless,” the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office confirmed.

A judge sentenced her to a two-year probation term and ordered her to complete a 12-hour drinking and driving program.

A source close to Warner who was not authorized to speak publicly said she had taken Ambien, the sleeping medication, and woke up in police custody with no recollection of what happened.

Prosecutors said on Feb. 24, Warner smashed her car into an electric pole near Hacienda Place and Holloway Drive in West Hollywood. Next, she drove to a 7-Eleven store, where a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy tried to take her into custody.

Prosecutors said she reversed her vehicle toward the deputy and crashed into a sheriff’s patrol car.

She was originally charged with a felony count of assault upon a peace officer and three misdemeanor counts: driving under the influence, driving with a .08% blood-alcohol content and hit-and-run driving, prosecutors said. She faced as many as six years in prison if convicted.

On Wednesday, the original charges were dropped and Warner pleaded to the new, lesser charge.

“Nothing she did that day was conscious,” said her defense attorney, Shawn Holley. “I feel that we would have prevailed at trial, but I understand the reasons she wanted to accept the D.A.’s offer and move forward with her life.”

From 2006 to 2008, Warner starred on the Bravo docu-soap “Work Out,” followed by another Bravo show, “Thintervention.” She has also published diet and fitness books and was a part-owner of a Beverly Hills gym.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno