IRWINTON, Ga. — Acer “Dray” Swicord entered a no contest plea to driving under the influence of alcohol less safe during a hearing before Wilkinson County Probate Judge Vivian L. Cummings on Thursday morning.

Swicord, who serves as chief of police in Milledgeville, was off-duty at the time he was stopped by a trooper with the Georgia State Patrol in Wilkinson County for failure to dim the headlights while driving his personal pickup truck as he met a state trooper on Aug. 18, 2018, along Ga. Route 243 near Ivey.

A bench trial had been planned before Swicord’s defense attorney, Carl Cansino, announced that his client had decided to enter a plea rather than go forward with a trial.

“We’re going to enter a plea, your honor,” Cansino said, shortly after the hearing began.

The judge then ordered attorneys in the case to approach the bench, including Wilkinson County Solicitor General Jason Rowland.

A short time later, Cummings asked Swicord to step forward. She announced that Swicord’s nolo contendere, or no contest plea, had been entered and accepted by the court.

She immediately imposed the sentence.

“Your fine will be $2,000,” Cummings said, noting that Swicord would be credited for jail time already served.

Cansino told Cummings that his client already had successfully completed a DUI course.

Cummings also sentenced Swicord to serve 150 hours of community service.

“I do want you to do at least 75 of those hours as far as speaking with the youth about this situation,” Cummings said. “I think counsel had already indicated that you had already committed to that anyway. But I want that highly monitored.”

She also sentenced him to serve 12 month’s probation.

Cummings also told Swicord that while he was under probation that he would have to undergo random alcohol and drug screenings.

Swicord stood before the judge and did not speak during the brief sentencing phase.

Afterward, Cummings made several comments.

“I want to commend for stepping up to the plate,” Cummings told Swicord. “You are, to be honest, the third officer that I’ve had before me. It’s not easy for me as a judge. And the other two were our locals that I had to deal with and they had to deal with it. That’s why I commend you for stepping up to deal with this, because we don’t want it sometimes, but we are spotlighted on all the time.”

Cummings said she wanted Swicord to consider those comments when he talks with youth in Milledgeville, “because I believe this experience that you’ve been through —  it’s definitely opened up where you can do a lot in a positive way.”

She added that her prayers go out to him and his family.

“Just know, just like I am held to a higher call when I was sworn in Jan. 1,1997, that we have to own up to what our job titles are,” Cummings said. “With that being said, counsel, everybody — that is the disposition of the court and court is adjourned.”

Cansino issued a press release after the sentencing.

“Today (Thursday), my client entered a plea to the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol less safe,” Cansino said. “The law is clear in this case that there is no duty to dim headlights on a divided highway. I believe that the stop of Dray Swicord was unlawful. My client, however, chose to enter his plea and take responsibility for his actions.”

Wilkinson County Solicitor General Jason Rowland also commented about the case after Thursday’s sentencing.

“This is typical in all DUI cases on the first offense — this is exactly the same result that you have with any defendant,” Rowland told The Union-Recorder immediately after the hearing. “Mr. Swicord today was treated as any other defendant in his position. He was given the same amount of community service, and the same types of fines and other punishment as anyone else would have received.”

Rowland said he commended Swicord, a resident of Milledgeville, for stepping up rather than going through a trial.

“Probably, if we had had a trial today, I would estimate that it would have lasted at least three hours — a good bulk of the day,” Rowland said. “But, I again commend him for stepping up.”