Fossella Pleads Guilty at DUI Re-Trial

By JOHN P. WISE

Updated 11:44 AM EST, Mon, Apr 13, 2009

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Apparently moved by the Nick Adenhart tragedy, former Rep. Vito Fossella pleaded guilty this morning to the drunken-driving charge that ended his political career, according to the Daily News.

The disgraced Staten Island Republican entered the plea in connection to his DUI arrest in Virginia last May. He'd been sentenced to a week in jail after a bench trial last year, but Fossella appealed the conviction in December.

At his re-trial that began Monday morning, Fossella's attorney, Jerry Phillips, said his client was inspired by the death last week of Adenhart, the Los Angeles Angels' pitcher who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver who was later found to be drunk.

"There was a lot of publicity about Nick Adenhart," defense lawyer Jerry Phillips told The Daily News. "It placed his case in an atmosphere where a lot of emotion was involved."

Fossella is likely going to begin a five-day sentence -- with credit for one day already served -- this weekend in Virginia, according to the Daily News report.

The night of his arrest triggered a whirlwind of speculation that exposed the congressman's double life. Fossella, married with three children, later admitted that not only was he having an affair with a retired Air Force officer, but also said he'd fathered her child.

Three weeks after the DUI arrest, Fossella announced that he'd finish out his term but would not seek re-election.