'Final Destination 3' Star Ryan Merriman -- Booze Class Express

"Final Destination 3" star Ryan Merriman has just been sentenced to a fate worse than jail in his DUI case -- alcohol education classes.

TMZ broke the story ... Merriman was charged with two counts of DUI last month after his boozy November arrest in Newport Beach. The actor pled no contest today to driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 or more, and the remaining DUI count was dismissed.

Showing no mercy, the judge sentenced Merriman to an accelerated alcohol program -- and 3 years informal, unsupervised probation.