City Council member Kent L. “Spanky” O’Dell will serve one year of probation and 25 hours of community service for his guilty plea to misdemeanor charges of Driving a Motor Vehicle with Excessive Blood Alcohol Content.

The charges stem from Mr O’Dell’s arrest early November 22 at 22nd and Garfield.

O’Dell’s lawyer, Jim Nadolski, says they could have fought the charge in court. After a fairly lengthy booking procedure, O’Dell was tested for blood alcohol and the result was .067%, which is below the legal limit of .08%. Nadolski says they might very well have prevailed in a lengthy court fight over the arrest. But Mr O’Dell decided against that.

“He decided that for his sake, for the city’s sake, and most importantly for his family’s sake, that the better part of valor would be to put this behind him,” Nadolski said.

O’Dell was pulled over for a turn-signal violation, and was originally arrested on a municipal charge of DUI. But the case was moved to state court on December 5.

“I don’t believe the police were targeting my client. There was a large crowd of people gathered nearby for a rock concert, so it’s possible police were keeping an eye on the crowd, but I don’t believe they were targeting Mr Odell.”

Mr Nadolski says his client is 58 years old, has never been in trouble with the law, and has a spotless driving record. With that in mind, Associate Circuit Judge Ronald Taylor said he would treat O’Dell the same as he treats anyone else.

Judge Taylor ordered a suspended imposition of sentence, and placed O’Dell on one year probation. He ordered O’Dell not to drink any alcohol during that period, and to complete 25 hours of community service. If O’Dell successfully completes the probation requirements, the arrest will be expunged from his record.