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Report: Michael Phelps unlikely to face any jail time over DUI

Jason O'Brien / Reuters

Jail time is reportedly not the expected outcome of Michael Phelps's trial for drunk-driving charges.

According to USA Today, the 18-time Olympic gold medalist is unlikely to face any time in prison over the five charges he's facing, three of which are the result of driving with a blood-alcohol content of .14 - nearly twice the legal limit - when he was arrested on Sept. 30 in Baltimore.

The outcome of the trial will be revealed Friday, and Phelps, who was also suspended by USA Swimming for six months over the incident, faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted.

It should be noted that these aren't Phelps's first DUI-related charges, as he was arrested - but ultimately not convicted - for drunken driving as a 19-year-old in 2004, meaning he'll be viewed as a repeat offender.

"The big things the judge is going to look at, two things, the facts of the case, obviously, and the time in between the two (DUIs)," said Scott J. Richman, who was the head of the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office Traffic Division between 2012 and 2014.

"The less time that's been elapsed, the more likely you're going to see some incarceration. In a case like this where it's been almost 10 years to the day, there was no accident, there wasn't a particularly high test result in the grand scheme of test results the court sees, if I had to guess I would say he's going to get a suspended sentence."

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