Former Buffalo Bill Bruce Smith admits DWI

VIRGINIA BEACH, Vt., Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Bruce Smith, a Hall of Fame defensive end who played for the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins, pleaded guilty to drunken driving Thursday in Virginia.

A circuit court judge in Virginia Beach gave Smith, 46, a suspended 90-day jail sentence and took away his driver's license for a year, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported. He also was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

Smith said he had been drinking with friends May 14 and thought he was sober enough to get to his home in Virginia Beach. He was pulled over by a police officer on Interstate 264, failed a roadside sobriety test and refused to be breathalyzed.

In return for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges of speeding and refusing the breathalyzer test.

Smith was convicted in district court but appealed, allowing him a new trial, which had been scheduled to start Thursday.

The officer who arrested him in May was later tried and convicted of DWI himself. Smith said he thought he had a 50-50 chance of winning in the circuit court.

Smith was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August.