LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — Figure skater Andrei Lutai (AHN’-drey loo-TEYE’) has pleaded guilty to reckless driving in a New York case that cost him a chance to compete for Russia in the 2010 Olympics.
Under a plea bargain, a drunken-driving charge was dropped. Car theft charges were dropped earlier. The 25-year-old skater was fined and sentenced to three days he already spent in jail.
Lutai had been arrested hours after finishing 10th at Skate America in Lake Placid in November 2009.
Defense attorney Brian Barrett says Thursday that Lutai hopes to compete in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. Lutai lives in Bulgaria and wasn’t in court for the misdemeanor sentencing last week.
The Russian Figure Skating Federation banned Lutai for a year after the arrest, ending his bid to skate at the Vancouver Olympics.
