An attorney for Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora’s attorney entered a guilty plea on behalf of his client to one count of driving while under the influence of alcohol during a hearing at Harbor Justice Center in Santa Ana on Tuesday, April 22.

The surprise plea came only a few hours after the OC District Attorney’s office announced that it would not be pressing child endangerment charges against Sambora, initially recommended by police who made the arrest last month in Laguna Beach.

Sambora, 48, a Laguna Beach resident, did not appear in court.

The district attorney said the guitarist’s blood alcohol level was .13, above the state’s legal threshold for DUI of .08 or more.

Laguna Beach police had recommended that Sambora be charged with misdemeanor child endangerment and DUI. The recommendation stemmed from the investigation of his arrest at 11 p.m. on March 25 after an officer allegedly saw the vehicle he was driving straddling two lanes southbound on Glenneyre Street from Laguna Avenue.

Sambora’s daughter, age 10, his niece and an adult female were in his H2 Hummer at the time. An individual familiar with the case, but not authorized to speak, said the DUI charge “presumes that the driver could endanger himself or others.” The individual added “…Sambora wasn’t driving at a high rate of speed or in an overtly reckless manner necessary to prompt the child endangerment charge.”

Sambora was sentenced to three years of informal probation, three months of first offender alcohol awareness classes, standard court restitution fees and ordered to abstain from drinking alcohol or drug use during his three-year probation.