First, there was perennial All American girl Valerie Bertinelli admitting that she cheated on husband Eddie Van Halen during their marriage. Now, Dawn Wells, you probably know her better as wholesome as apple pie Mary Ann from “Gilligan’s Island,” has been saddled with six months of unsupervised probation after being caught with marijuana in her car. What is next – a photo of “Three’s Company” good girl Joyce DeWitt smoking crack?
Dawn was sentenced to serve five days in jail, pay a fine of $410.50 (how do they come up with that figure?), and placed on the unsupervised probation after pleading guilty to reckless driving. She entered a plea agreement that dropped the charges of driving under the influence, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance.
The event occurred on October 18th, when Dawn was driving home from a surprise birthday party that had been thrown for her. Well, doesn’t that suck? Surprise, you are going to jail. Teton County sheriff’s deputy Joseph Gutierrez pulled Dawn over after noticing her swerving and driving fast, then slow. When he asked about the smell in the car, Dawn said she had just given a ride to three hitchhikers, but had dropped them off when they started smoking something. Gutierrez found two half-smoked marijuana joints and two small cases of marijuana. Dawn then failed a sobriety test and she was arrested.
Her lawyer, Ron Swafford, said that a friend said he left a small amount of marijuana in Dawn’s car the previous day, but she didn’t know about it. Swafford went on to say that several witnesses are ready to testify that Dawn had little to drink at the party and she was only swerving because she was trying to turn on the heater in her new car.
The 69-year-old actress lives in the Teton Valley, which is in eastern Idaho. She runs a business, Wishing Wells Collections, which provides clothing for those with limited mobility. She is also the founder of the Idaho Film and Television Institute and each year, she organizes the Spud Fest, an annual regional family movie festival.