Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison agreed to a lesser plea deal to resolve his 2024 DUI case, his attorney noted last week.
We’ve been chronicling Addison’s run-ins with the law on our blog over the last year, including his 2024 DUI arrest where police found him asleep at the wheel of his Rolls-Royce with a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit. His case was originally scheduled to go to court during last year’s NFL season, but it got postponed to this year. His attorney, Jacqueline Sparagna, noted that instead of fighting the case in court, Addison agreed to a “wet reckless” plea deal, which will require him to pay a fine and complete two online courses. He is also expected to be on probation for a period of at least six months.
“While Mr. Addison’s case would have made for a great trial, I admire him for taking responsibility by accepting the City Attorney’s ‘wet reckless’ offer,” Sparagna said. “Now, he can put this incident behind him and solely focus on his promising career.”
What Is A Wet Reckless?
As we’ve talked about on our blog in the past, a wet reckless is a plea deal in which the person charged with DUI agrees to plead guilty to a lesser, misdemeanor charge of reckless driving. However, the “wet” part of the reckless driving charge indicates that alcohol or drugs were involved in the incident. Here’s what we mentioned about the wet reckless charge on a previous blog:
“A wet reckless is a term for a plea deal in a DUI case. Instead of challenging the case in court, the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a charge of reckless driving in exchange for the prosecution dropping the drunk driving charge. Again, the prosecution gets an easy conviction on their record and can start preparing for the next case, while the defendant avoids a more serious DUI charge. Most reckless driving charges only result in fines, while a DUI can result in jail time, bigger fines and the loss of driving privileges, so it’s easy to see why someone would plead guilty to a wet reckless instead of challenging their case in court.
That being said, you shouldn’t just jump at the plea deal if it is offered by the prosecution. Pleading to a wet reckless is only advised if there is strong evidence against you and your attorney believes it is in your best interest. If the evidence against you is weak, you may be better off challenging the case in court. In fact, sometimes the prosecution offers a plea deal when they know their case is weak in hopes that they don’t have to try and win in court. Always measure all your options before moving forward with a plea deal.
As we’ve documented, it seems like the evidence against Addison was pretty strong, but the plea deal will put a bow on the case and allow the prosecution to move on to other cases and ensure Addison avoids a worse case scenario. There is a decent likelihood that Addison will still face discipline from the NFL, as a three-game suspension is standard for a first offense DUI conviction. That said, a wet reckless is different than a DUI, so it’s possible that Addison’s suspension could only be a game or two. However, given the recent issues that team has had (assistant coach Wes Phillips’ DUI arrest and the death of then-rookie Khyree Jackson at the hands of a driver who has been charged with DUI), it seems likely that the NFL will stick with the three game suspension instead of providing leniency to Addison and the Vikings, but that’s simply our guess from an optics standpoint without inside information.
As always, if you or someone you know is facing a DUI or similar traffic charge here in Minnesota, connect with Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
