Would you want Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Whitney Houston or Mel Gibson as your company spokesperson? Each has developed a reputation for driving while under the influence,  | | Emmy Award winning Kiefer Sutherland is great for saving the world on 24... but in his personal life he's less heroic. (Photo: FOX TV) | which seems to have become a popular sport amongst A-list celebrities in recent years despite decades of effort by law enforcement agencies and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) to bring attention to driving responsibly.
Ford Motor Company of Canada is in just such a predicament with the voice of its Canadian-only television ads, Kiefer Sutherland having just recently plead guilty to driving with a 0.08 or higher blood-alcohol level. If it was a first offense it might be reasonable for Ford, a family focused company, to let him off the hook, but in fact Sutherland violated the five-year probation of a previous DUI conviction back in 2004, in which he pled no contest to driving with a 0.22 blood-alcohol level. Facing up to a year-and-a-half in jail, the popular star of the TV series 24 will be sentenced on December 21.
“Public safety is a top priority at Ford of Canada and we are glad it appears that Kiefer Sutherland will seek treatment,” commented Gina Gehlert, Public Affairs Manager, Ford of Canada. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Interestingly, the very judge who prosecuted Paris Hilton, Michael Sauer, was to have presided over Sutherland's case, but the Canadian actor's savvy lawyer, Blair Berk, managed to get sentencing transferred over to Judge Stuart Rice due to Sauer being on vacation. Sutherland has been ordered not to drive between November 9 and the December 21 hearing.
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