A Miami judge compared pop star Justin Bieber to a young Robert Downey Jr. Wednesday as the singer entered a guilty plea to careless driving and resisting arrest in his January DUI arrest.
Bieber was not present in court when his attorney entered the plea, which will require him to take anger management classes and a class where he'll learn about the victims of drunk driving in addition to making a $50,000 donation to the organization "Our Kids." The singer's DUI charges were dropped.
Judge William Altfield told the singer's attorney that he hopes Bieber "realizes that his actions not only lead to consequences that affect him, but they lead to consequences that affect others who are looking up to him as a role model."
Altfield compared Bieber to the once-troubled Downey Jr. who repeatedly got in trouble with the law "because of the drugs, because of the alcohol, because of the fame, because of all of the pressures that he had on a daily basis and look at what he's done with his life. He turned himself around."
"Here is someone who is young," Altfield said of Bieber. "His whole life is ahead of him and he just hopefully will get the message. He will grow up. He will use all of his talents positively for young persons."
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said the original purpose of Bieber's arrest was to "end some rash juvenile type conduct before a tragedy occurred."
"The intervention and counseling parts of the plea should provide a pathway toward adult responsibility," she added.
The "Boyfriend" singer, 20, was arrested in Miami in January on charges of driving under the influence, drag racing, driving with an expired license and resisting arrest without violence after police saw him driving a yellow Lamborghini in a residential neighborhood.