Wilmington City Councilman Charlie Rivenbark pleads guilty to DWI charge

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington City councilman charged with driving while impaired in May has pleaded guilty.

On July 18, Charlie Rivenbark was represented by his attorney Jessica Whitley at the Brunswick County courthouse and entered the plea.

He was convicted of a level 5 DWI.

A judge ordered Rivenbark to pay a $100 fine and $573 in court costs, 30 days in custody, which is suspended. He was also sentenced to 12 months of unsupervised probation, and to complete 24 hours of community service within 180 days of sentencing.

Rivenbark was arrested May 11 at around 1:45 a.m. in Leland. His blood alcohol level was .11, which is over the .08 legal limit.

After his arrest, Rivenbark released a statement saying he received a call from his son, who is quadriplegic and was experiencing a medical event. Rivenbark said he made the decision to leave Myrtle Beach to be with him.

“I did not think that I was impaired. In hindsight, it was not the right decision, but it was the one I made based on the knowledge that he was in pain,” Rivenbark wrote at the time.