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Rascal Flatts' Joe Don Rooney Pleads Guilty to DUI

Staff Writer

The Rascal Flatts lead guitarist was arrested on September 9, 2021.

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Rascal Flatts' Jon Don Rooney has pled guilty to a 2021 DUI charge. 

PEOPLE reported that Rooney will spend two days in jail as a result of his plea deal. He will also have his remaining sentence, of 11 months and 27 days, suspended, according to The Tennessean.

Rooney's driver's license was also revoked. However, he will have the opportunity to obtain a restricted driver's license down the line for a vehicle with a built-in breathalyzer device. He will also be required to complete a DUI training.

The Rascal Flatts lead guitarist was arrested on September 9, 2021, after crashing his car into a tree around 4 am local time near Fieldstone Park, just north of Franklin, Tennessee. He was booked into Williamson County jail before being released on $2,500 bail several hours later.

An affidavit, obtained by TMZ, later revealed that Rooney blamed the incident on a deer crossing the road. Police, however, said that Rooney smelled of alcohol and later admitted that he had “one more” drink than he should have.

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Weeks after Rooney’s arrest, fellow Rascal Flatts band member, Gary LeVox, opened up about Rascal Flatts and revealed that he was unhappy with the trio’s demise. 

The lead vocalist for the group told PEOPLE in October that he's "never been OK with the way that it ended," and that he "wasn't happy that Joe Don quit."

"It kind of came out of nowhere," LeVox continued. "It was like, 'Let me try to wrap my head around this.' And then I certainly wasn't OK with the pandemic, which cancelled everything. I hate the way that it ended. I hate that we didn't get to do this farewell tour. I can't stand the fact that it just feels there's no closure with something that we've been so blessed with. That will always be in my heart."

Rascal Flatts was due to hold a farewell tour, which they announced in January 2020. It was later cancelled and announced there were no plans to reschedule it "for the foreseeable future."

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