Tony Romo accepted a Tony Romo OWI plea deal in Wisconsin this week that closes out his OWI case and sets a 10-year trigger for a Mandatory Jail Sentence if he is convicted again of drinking and driving. The deal also requires an ignition interlock device on all of his vehicles, a six-month revocation of his driver’s license and an alcohol assessment program.
Prosecutors agreed to drop all other citations Romo faced, including OWI, possessing open intoxicants in a moving vehicle, unsafe passing on right and refusing to take test for intoxication. The case stemmed from a July 23 stop on a Milwaukee highway after a round of golf.
Milwaukee highway stop
The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said Romo was pulled over after making an unsafe lane change and was later taken into custody after exhibiting signs of impairment during the stop. A court filing obtained by TMJ4 said tests showed a blood-alcohol level of.15.
Those facts mattered because the plea did not end with a single no contest plea. It paired that plea with conditions that will follow him for years, including the ignition interlock requirement and the 10-year jail trigger tied to any future drinking-and-driving conviction.
Tony Romo Instagram post
Romo addressed the incident on Instagram on Tuesday and linked it to his health after football. “Multiple back surgeries ended my career earlier than I expected and left me with constant, debilitating pain,” he wrote.
He added, “That pain led me to a dependance on pain medication, and my efforts to get off those medications led to an over-reliance on alcohol.” He also said, “I kindly ask for privacy during this period,” and said he was taking full responsibility for his actions.
OWI case terms
The plea resolves the OWI case by removing the other citations while leaving Romo with a set of continuing obligations. He said he is turning his attention toward his health, his family and a future return to CBS, while the court documents show the most consequential term is the one that would apply only if he is convicted again within 10 years.
For Romo, the practical result is simple: the case is no longer just about the July 23 stop. It now carries a long-running penalty structure, and any later drinking-and-driving conviction could turn that structure into a Mandatory Jail Sentence.
