Dina Lohan sentenced to 18 days in jail and 5 years' probation for DWI

Dina Lohan surrendered Friday to start serving an 18-day jail sentence after a Nassau County Court proceeding that followed her September guilty plea to felony drunken driving.

Acting State Supreme Court Justice Caryn Fink also sentenced the mother of actress Lindsay Lohan to 5 years of probation on top of the jail term and imposed other conditions.

Police arrested Lohan, 59, of North Merrick, nearly two years ago in a drunken driving incident. Now she will have to give a DNA sample, do any therapy that probation officials order, participate in a victim impact panel and take part while jailed in a program aimed at stopping drunken driving.

In addition, her driver's license will be revoked for at least 18 months and she will have to install alcohol ignition interlock devices on any vehicle she owns or operates during probation.

Defense attorney John Pedranghelu Jr. asked Fink to consider that Lohan has celiac disease, diverticulitis and chronic neck pain, along with a PTSD diagnosis. He said his client completed 20 sessions of online substance abuse counseling during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with some inpatient treatment.

The Hicksville lawyer then asked for leniency and compassion from the judge, while also citing the pandemic and the holiday season.

Fink said she reviewed letters from Lohan's family and friends that spoke of the defendant's character strengths and charity work and acknowledged Lohan had undergone treatment after her arrest.

"I did consider everything that has been submitted, but I do also have to evaluate what happened on the day of the incident," Fink said before meting out Lohan's punishment.

Police arrested Lohan on the evening of Jan. 11, 2020, after she crashed her Mercedes-Benz into a Honda CR-V outside a steakhouse at Merrick Mall before leaving the scene.

The other driver called 911 and followed Lohan before a police officer approached her car and noted that Lohan's breath smelled of alcohol, her speech was slurred and her eyes were bloodshot, according to a felony complaint.

The document also said the motorist got out of her vehicle and "fell to the ground on her face" before accusing the officer of pushing her. Lohan admitted she'd had a glass of wine but wouldn't take sobriety tests, according to police.

Lohan's felony DWI conviction follows her 2014 misdemeanor conviction for aggravated drunken driving in Nassau County.

"There won't be a next time," she'd said at her prior sentencing. On Friday, Lohan didn't address the judge.

In the current case, she also pleaded guilty to leaving an accident scene and agreed to waive the right to appeal her conviction.

Prosecutor Alexandra Wolff said Friday that her office had recommended the judge sentence Lohan to 6 months in jail and 5 years of probation, along with other conditions. But she said her office was prepared to go forward knowing how the judge planned to sentence Lohan.

Both a Nassau District Attorney's Office spokesman and Pedranghelu declined to comment after court.

Prosecutors expect Lohan to spend less than 18 days in Nassau's jail, in part because of time she spent in custody after her arrest and also because defendants generally serve two-thirds of their sentences with credit for good behavior.