Disgraced Rep. Vito Fossella has been sentenced to five days in jail for drunken driving.
Judge Becky Moore of Alexandria General District Court decided Fossella was so drunk he met the legal threshold for a five-day stint in jail.
"Congressman Fossella, I've been sworn to follow the law and so I must impose jail time," the judge told the ashen-faced lawmaker.
She ordered him to begin serving his sentence on Dec. 19, but Fossella's lawyers said they would immediately appeal, which would delay his reporting to jail.
Fossella's May 1 arrest led to revelations he had fathered a child through an extramarital affair.
Buffeted by questions about his personal secrets, Fossella chose not to seek re-election and will leave Congress next month.
Fossella was arrested after running a red light on May 1 in a Virginia suburb of Washington, and convicted of drunken driving in October.
Under Virginia law, a driver who registers a blood alcohol content of 0.15 or higher must serve five days behind bars. Police say Fossella's blood alcohol content was 0.17.
Fossella's lawyer, Jerry Phillips, tried to convince the judge that the breath-test machine used on Fossella was faulty, but her decision showed she did not buy that argument.
At the last minute, his lawyers also tried to delay the sentence while they waited for a toxicology expert to arrive at court, but the judge said they'd had more than enough time.
