Sutherland was arrested by police after he was stopped for making an illegal u-turn and failed a field sobriety test after leaving a nightclub back on September 25. He was already on probation for the same offense stemming from a 2004 incident. He pleaded no contest in October to driving with a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit of .08.
The actor requested to serve his time in Glendale and that request was granted. He was ordered to complete the sentence by March 30 but chose to turn himself over to authorities to begin serving his sentence immediately. He could have waited until as late as February 12.
The Glendale jail is a minimum security facility with 48 cells, each of them measuring 10 feet by 8 feet. They come equipped with two beds, a toilet, washbasin and water fountain, but Sutherland won’t be sharing his cell with anyone.
The actor is classified as an “inmate worker” and will be required to perform duties in the laundry room and help prepare food for inmates in the kitchen area. He must serve all 48 days of his sentence.
Under the terms of his plea, he also must serve five years of probation, pay a $510 fine, enroll in an 18-month alcohol-education class and attend weekly alcohol-therapy sessions for six months.
Sutherland, who plays the coolest federal counterterrorism agent ever, Jack Bauer on “24,” won an Emmy for best actor last year. It was recently announced that the next season of “24″ will not be premiering in January as originally scheduled. No new details of the season have been released yet.
