Ex-Miss USA Rima Fakih Strikes Plea Deal in DUI Case

Beauty queen was arrested in December for driving under the influence, but today pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of driving while visibly impaired

By Rebecca Macatee Apr 11, 2012 5:49 PMTags
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Things got messy for beauty queen Rima Fakih when she was arrested in December for drunk driving in Detroit's Highland Park.

But today the former Miss USA pleaded no contest to driving while visibly impaired, the Detroit Free Press reports. (Her driving while intoxicated charge was reduced to a driving while visibly impaired charge during a plea deal struck in January.)

Her reaction to the news?

Pretty pleased, according to her attorney. "The settlement that was reached is fair to all sides," he said. "She doesn't have to go  through all of this any more."

The 26-year-old brunette beauty's lawyer expects that she will be placed on probation and hopes that she'll be able to serve that probation in California, where she lives and is working on becoming an actress.

In January, Fakih told E! News she was ready to put the ordeal behind her. "The judge is being extra hard on me, but I understand there are a lot of people looking up to me," she added. "I'm the type that doesn't mind challenges, but I do want to be treated like a person."

It was just two years ago that Fakih made headlines for a very different reason: she was the first Arab-American in history to be crowned Miss USA.