James McVoy Taylor, a country singer who also previously appeared on The Bachelorette, has been sentenced in connection to his arrest in Texas last year. In a Brazos County courtroom on Tuesday, Nov. 8, Taylor was found guilty on charges of driving while intoxicated and unlawful carrying of a weapon, ultimately being sentenced to five days in the Brazos County Detention Center. According to KBTX 3, he was also ordered to pay a $500 fine and $585 in court costs and his driver’s license was temporarily suspended.
“I was very pleased with the way the trial was run in Judge Roy Brantley’s courtroom,” Taylor’s attorney, Will Vaughn, said. “I wish I could have gotten a better result for my client, but I was honored to represent a good guy like James.”
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Taylor’s conviction and sentencing come just over a year after the singer-songwriter was arrested in College Station, Texas in September 2022. The 37-year-old was confronted by a police officer who saw him urinating in a parking garage, according to a police report obtained by PEOPLE. The officer told Taylor not to drive his truck, and while Taylor agreed, the report said he returned to his pickup truck moments later and attempted to drive away. He was arrested before he could leave the parking garage.
Per KWTX, officers described Taylor as having glassy eyes, slurred speech, and smelling of alcohol while swaying backward and forwards. In their arrest report, officers said that Taylor’s 18-year-old “college freshman companion” was also in the pickup and was impaired and “was not in any kind of condition to appraise the benefits and risks of the situation she was in.”
Police arrested Taylor for driving under the influence after he failed field sobriety tests. He was also charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon after officers found a handgun in the vehicle. During the arrest, police said Taylor became verbally abusive and called the officer an “idiot” among other things. He also allegedly threatened to have the officer fired and said he would press charges. Taylor allegedly continued to insult the arresting officer, and also criticized prosecutors, in an Instagram post ahead of his sentencing, but KBTX 3 reports he later removed those comments from the post.
Taylor is best known for appearing on The Bachelorette: Season 12, JoJo Fletcher’s season, in 2016. He was eliminated during the seventh week of the season, with his social media bios saying that he was exiled from bachelor nation.” Taylor is also a singer and songwriter who created music in support of former President Donald Trump. He has released the unofficial Trump anthem “Great Again” and an ode to U.S. military and law enforcement called “Are You With Us or Not?”
