Justin Timberlake pleads guilty to impaired driving in Hamptons case

Justin Timberlake accepted on Friday a reduced level of traffic offense, resolving his drunk-driving criminal case in the Hamptons, the upscale coastal area east of New York City.

He pleaded guilty to impaired driving.

The singer-songwriter and actor entered Sag Harbor village court late in the morning and was to formally enter a new plea.

Police officers escorted Timberlake as he left his lawyer’s office and crossed a street to the courthouse as a crowd, including journalists, surrounded him.

Related: Justin Timberlake set to appear in person for hearing in drunk-driving case

During the proceedings, Timberlake remained standing throughout and gave a statement in which he expressed remorse for his actions.

“I did not live up to the standards that I try to hold for myself,” he said.

Timberlake said he was “grateful for the opportunity to move forward” and use his platform to hopefully help others make “better decisions”.

“I should have had better judgment,” he said to the judge. “I understand the seriousness of this.”

The former boy band star originally pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated (DWI) at a hearing last month and had his driving license suspended. The case was being prosecuted by the office of Ray Tierney, the Suffolk county district attorney.

Timberlake was arrested in Sag Harbor, New York, a little after midnight on 18 June after police said he ran a stop sign in the village center, veered out of his lane and got out of his BMW smelling of alcohol.

Police in court filings also said the 43-year-old Tennessee native’s eyes were “bloodshot and glassy” and that he had “slowed speech”, was unsteady on his feet and performed poorly on all sobriety tests.

Timberlake told the officer he had had one martini and was following some friends home, police said.

As part of the plea deal he was obligated to make a safety-related announcement in public. Timberlake emerged into bright sunshine outside court, wearing a dark sweater and, over the noise of traffic and camera shutters, urged the public to learn from his mistake.

“I understand that I have a platform … to everyone watching and listening, even if you have only one drink, do not get behind the wheel of a car. There are so many alternatives,” he said.

Timberlake added: “This is a mistake that I made but I’m hoping that whoever is watching and listening now can learn from this mistake, I certainly have.”

He thanked the small town and its police department and said: “We can all be more safe out there and I’m going to do my part, I hope that everyone else does their part.”

Sag Harbor is a one-time whaling village mentioned in Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby-Dick, nestled amid the Hamptons, an area of seaside communities liberally sprinkled with millionaire and billionaire residents, often dubbed a playground of the super rich, about 100 miles (161km) east of Manhattan.

Timberlake’s license suspension in New York likely affects his ability to drive in other states, a legal expert said this week. Refusing a breath test, as the singer did during his arrest, triggers an automatic suspension of the driving license under New York state law, which should then be enforced in other states, according to Kenneth Gober, a managing partner at the law firm Lee, Gober & Reyna in Austin, Texas.

The Associated Press contributed reporting