Bruce Springsteen pleaded guilty Wednesday to consuming alcohol in a closed area but prosecutors dropped charges of driving while intoxicated and reckless driving.
The 71-year-old rock star, who appeared at his hearing via Zoom, was slapped with a $540 U.S. fine by the judge. The maximum penalty for the charge was a fine of up to $5,000 U.S. and six months in jail.
Springsteen was charged last November at the Gateway National Recreation Area in New Jersey after stopping his motorcycle to have some shots with fans.
“I had two small shots of tequila,” he admitted at his hearing. Springsteen refused a Breathalyzer test at the scene but took one at the ranger station. Prosecutors said his blood alcohol content was only 0.02 (the state’s legal limit while driving is 0.08).
In Springsteen's 2016 autobiography Born to Run, he wrote about not having had alcohol until he was 22, after growing up with his hard-drinking father Doug.
"I was afraid of myself, what I might do or what might happen to me,” he wrote. “I’d seen my dad and that was enough for me.”
On Super Bowl Sunday, Springsteen made his TV commercial debut in a spot for Jeep. A spokesperson said in a statement the commercial has been paused "until the facts can be established" but added "drinking and driving can never be condoned."