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Actor can serve jail sentence on work release

The Bakersfield Californian | Monday, Oct 6 2008 12:07 PM

Last Updated: Monday, Oct 6 2008 2:24 PM

Actor Thomas Jane was sentenced to an extra day in jail for a plea to drunken driving, but he can serve the time in a work release program, his attorney explained Monday.

Two weeks ago it appeared the 39-year-old action film star would get no additional jail time other than the one day he had previously served, but last week he was resentenced to an additional day in jail.

Defense attorney H.A. Sala explained that the law requires two days in jail, but a clerk incorrectly gave Jane two days of credit when he should have only received one day.

That meant he no longer had two days credit for the two days he had to be sentenced, leaving him with one day left to serve, Sala said.

The judge gave Jane the same option available to all such defendants, namely the right to serve the time in a work release program anywhere in California, Sala said.

Also, Jane was initially put on one-year informal probation, but that was increased last week to three years, Deputy District Attorney David Wolf said. He said three years probation is standard in this type of case.

In addition Jane was sentenced last week to 50 hours of community service, also a standard requirement, Wolf said. "The idea was to treat Mr. Jane as any other defendant," Wolf said.

Jane was the star of the Hollywood film "The Punisher" and a horror film based on Stephen King's "The Mist."

He was stopped three times on Interstate 5 March 17 for driving a late-model Maserati at 100 mph or faster. On the third stop near Highway 46, he was arrested on drunken driving charges.

He pled no contest Sept. 16 to a single count of drunken driving, a misdemeanor. He was also fined $2,544, the attorneys said.