The son of Illinois Senate President John Cullerton pleaded guilty in Cook County traffic court Friday morning to driving drunk in his father’s state-owned SUV last April.
Dressed in a gray suit, Garritt Cullerton, 27, quietly plead guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge. Judge Sharon O. Johnson sentenced Cullerton to two years conditional discharge -- similar to probation -- plus mandatory alcohol treatment, 240 hours of community service and fined him $1,250.
He also received a ticket for improper lane usage, but a second ticket for negligent driving was dropped.
Early on the morning of last April 18, Cullerton was behind the wheel of a state-issued 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid and caught the attention of Chicago police, according to court records.
Officers pulled Cullerton over near the 800 block of North Dearborn and noticed he had bloodshot eyes and a strong odor of alcohol.
His father, a North Side Democrat, later issued a statement saying the vehicle was to be used for official legislative business and that Garritt Cullerton, employed as a researcher for the state, was not authorized to drive it. The vehicle was later surrendered.
The younger Cullerton has been pulled over at least eight times since 2001.
