Former MLB Pitcher Matt Keough To Face Judge For Drunken Driving

NEWPORT BEACH (CBS) — Former major league pitcher Matt Keough will find out Friday if he will spend more time in prison for drunken driving.

Keough, 55, of Coto de Caza, pleaded guilty in July to felony drunken driving and was immediately sent to a 90-day diagnostic program so psychiatric experts could determine whether he was eligible for probation.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Derek Johnson may decide Friday whether Keough is eligible for probation or if he should be sentenced to 16 months to three years in prison.

Keough's wife, Jeana, one of the stars of the "The Real Housewives of Orange County," is expected to attend the hearing, Keough's attorney Rob Harley said.

An Orange County sheriff's deputy tried to stop Keough on the afternoon of Aug. 15, 2009 after he ran a stop sign, but Keough kept going a quarter-mile to his home, according to authorities. He was detained as he walked toward the back door of his house.

Prosecutors say Keough refused field sobriety tests and had a blood-alcohol level of .30 percent, more than three times the legal limit, an hour after going through the stop sign. Harley, Keough's attorney, said his blood-alcohol level was .27.

Keough's first attempt to enter a guilty plea was in July, but the judge concluded he was too drunk and told him to report back to court a few days later. Harley said Keough still smelled of alcohol when he showed up for court a second time, but was sober enough to enter the plea.

Keough has a history of drunken driving. He pleaded guilty to the charge in 2005 and was sentenced to three years probation and 180 days in jail after rear-ending a car idling at a red light, pushing it into a pedestrian whose knee was injured. Keough was also served 180 days in jail in 2008 after admitting he violated probation by drinking wine at a hotel.

Keough pitched for five teams during his 10-year major league career that ended in 1986, then pitched in Japan for four season. His attorney said that Keough has been a "basket case" since he was hit in the head with a foul ball in 1992 during spring training while attempting to return to the major leagues with the then-California Angels.

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