Before he wowed Simon, Paula and Randy during last night's "American Idol," Thomas Daniels took his fair share of punishment from real judges over several criminal charges, including drunk driving.
TMZ has unearthed legal documents which reveal that in 2004, Daniels was convicted of DUI in Clackamas, Oregon. The 21-year-old, who was the first wannabe to get the green light from the "AI" crew on last night's show, pled guilty and was sentenced to a one-year alcohol diversion program and a $680 fine. Daniels also attended eight AA meetings and saw a counselor once a week for two months. After the completing his DUI sentence, the incident was wiped from Daniels' record.
TMZ spoke exclusively with Daniels who said, in reference to his DUI, "I was young and dumb and drinking and driving."
In December 2005, Daniels was arrested again; this time for hit and run. He failed to appear in court for the arraignment, so Daniels was rearrested. TMZ could not find the disposition of the hit and run. Daniels called the incident "another young and dumb situation."
When asked if he disclosed his criminal past to "American Idol" producers, Daniels had no comment.
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hey I live 2 blocks from this guy and he's really nice so f*** you tmz!
he has it all backwards!
first you become the star and then, you become a train wreck
Hey Simon, straighten the guy out will ya
by the way clackamas county gives everyone dui's!!!
my boyfriend got one while we were camping at trillium lake and we wasn't even in the car we were at our campsite. He had came back from fishing and went to the car to get new clothes when they came around checking tickets!!!
get better facts!
just to let you know that clackamas county courts have their own problems . . .and I found the docs online so why couldn't you???
he's got a decent voice - I'd be interested in hearing some original music from this guy.
Wow. Gee. What a surprise. An American Idol contestant with a previous criminal record. Like that's never happened before.
Can't believe how many idiots are sucked into this show.
Who cares leave him alone. It's not on his record anymore so leave him alone and come up with some better stories. Let him have a chance at singing if he is that good.
Way to go TMZ! I hope that you can turn some of that investigatory power to good use.....how about finding Osama? Maybe finding out who killed Kennedy? Oh, but let's make sure we get all these maniacs off of American Idol first, cuz THAT'S what's important. Hmmmmm, I wonder if I can dig up any dirt on Harvy Levin...........? By the way, there's this really nice girl at my work that is trying to get a promotion,can you dig up some dirt on her so I can get her fired? Thanks a bunch......
Um... you guys are ass clowns. Really you are. Do all of your faithfull readers a favor and never print another word about this guy.
He's done nothing at all except appear briefly once on a segment of a TV show...
...but he already has a much more legitimate claim to our attention than Paris Hilton or Nicole Richie.
So...welcome to Hollywood, DUI guy!
Who cares TMZ...you azzholes...leave the kid alone.
Azzwipes you are.
Posted at 4:34PM on Jan 18th 2007 by Manny
Hey Manny, this is a Celebrity GOSSIP website. If you are looking for hard hitting crime or world event investigation, you are in the wrong place.
This is hardly a "criminal" record. Come on TMZ - millions of people in this country have this kind of "record".
