Rima Fakih, Miss USA 2010, pleads no contest in DUI case

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Rima Fakih, crowned Miss USA in 2010, cut a deal related to her December arrest in Michigan on suspicion of drunk driving and on Wednesday pleaded no contest in court to driving while visibly impaired.

The beauty queen -- who has since spent some time in the wrestling arena -- still faces up to 93 days in jail when she is sentenced May 9, but her attorney said he expected that she would get probation that could be served from afar, in California.

‘You learn, you pay your price for making mistakes and you move on. I’m very happy I can put this behind me,’ Fakih, 26, said outside court. ‘I’m just going to move on and make sure I learn my lessons.’

A trial on charges of drunken driving, careless driving and having an open container of alcohol had been planned; driving while visibly impaired is a lesser offense, and ostensibly the answer to Fakih’s Twitter request earlier Wednesday: ‘Today is the big day...pray for me guys! Love u,’ she’d said, hours after tweeting that she couldn’t sleep.

So what was she doing when she was pulled over in the wee hours Dec. 3? Police said Fakih was hitting 60 mph in a 30 mph zone and weaving in and out of traffic in a 2011 Jaguar -- in which officers said they found an open half-bottle of bubbly.

One breath test reportedly put her blood alcohol content at 0.20 percent, and another put it at 0.19 percent. The legal limit is .08 percent.

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— Christie D’Zurilla
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Christie D’Zurilla on Google+

The Associated Press contributed to this report.