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The hammer has come down on Kurt Angle for his Sept. 4, 2011, arrest for driving under the influence. The hammer, though, is more like a rubber mallet.
That's because the former Olympic hero was given a simple slap on the wrist, as he was fined $2,500 and had $1,000 of it suspended. From the NVDaily.com report:
Professional wrestling champion Kurt Angle must pay a $1,500 fine as a result of a conviction for reckless driving, Warren County General District Judge W. Dale Houff ruled Tuesday.
Houff imposed the fine after hearing defense attorney C. Todd Gilbert and Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Fleming clash over the seriousness of Angle's offense.
Houff imposed the maximum fine of $2,500, but suspended $1,000. Fleming made no specific recommendation for a penalty, which could have included a jail sentence and driver's license suspension.
The gist of the situation is that Gilbert argued the entire thing was overblown and Angle was only swerving in and out of traffic for 11 miles straight because he was texting. Fleming took the opposite track and the judge ultimately sided with the celebrity.
Big surprise.
Angle has been arrested four times since beginning his run with TNA, none of which resulted in any meaningful punishment on any acceptable level. Read more about his various run-ins with the law by clicking here. Of course, we're talking about a justice system that let Lindsay Lohan walk after serving just four hours of a 30 day jail sentence due to "overcrowding."
In this case, the judge, Houff, explained the reasoning for his sentence by saying "it was not so much offensive, aggressive action as inattention."
And there you have it.
Angle won't be in the spotlight again anytime soon, at least. A torn hamstring is expected to keep him out of action for a few months at the least. Let's just hope his inactivity and subsequent boredom doesn't result in yet another charge against him for driving under the influence while texting.