FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 14 (UPI) -- The son of a wealthy South Florida businessman entered a no-contest plea and was sentenced to 18 months in prison on a drunken boating charge, officials say.
Robert Ray Huizenga, son of billionaire businessman H. Wayne Huizenga, will serve the sentence concurrently with a two-year sentence for violating probation from an earlier incident by drinking and operating a boat while drunk, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Monday.
A trial conviction could have brought Huizenga, 48, a sentence of up to five years, the newspaper said.
A 2003 drunken driving incident that left a pedestrian injured led to jail time in 2006 for Huizenga.
He was on probation when he was arrested in July 2009 on the drunken boating charge.
Huizenga's lawyer said the sentence taught his client a lesson in maturity, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
"I think he has learned it's time to put away childish things, and the childish thing is going out and getting hammered with the boys,'' attorney David Bogenschutz said. "I don't think that is going to happen anymore."
