Probation For Ford Exec, Heir Who Drove Drunk
FERNDALE (WWJ/AP) - A Ford Motor Co. executive and great-great-granddaughter of company founder Henry Ford has been sentenced to two years' probation after pleading guilty to driving drunk with her 11-year-old son aboard.
Forty-four-year-old Elena Ford leads the Dearborn-based automaker's global marketing, sales and service operations.
Ford told Ferndale police she'd had only two drinks before driving, and nothing in the last hour when they pulled her SUV over for speeding on Woodward Avenue April 3rd. Police said she was traveling 50 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone, when she drove over a curb.
A breathalizer test registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.18 percent and later was measured at 0.14 percent, according to the police report. The alcohol in her system was nearly twice the 0.08 percent level considered drunk under Michigan law.
The Birmingham woman told Ferndale District Judge Joseph Longo on Thursday that the case has been "a complete embarrassment'' to her family and says she's very sorry that the incident happened.
Ford must also perform 240 hours' community service, attend two educational programs and submit to random alcohol testing,.If she leaves the country she must wear a portable alcohol monitoring device.
Ford has had a clean driving record for the last seven years, prior to her arrest. That is as far back as state records show.
The Associated Press contibuted to this report.
