Cullerton’s son pleads guilty to DUI

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The son of Illinois Senate President John Cullerton pleaded guilty in Cook County traffic court Friday to driving drunk in his father’s state-owned SUV last April.

Dressed in a gray suit, Garritt Cullerton, 27, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge and was sentenced to two years of conditional discharge — similar to probation — plus mandatory alcohol treatment, 240 hours of community service and fined $1,250. As a result his driver’s license was revoked.

On April 18, Cullerton was behind the wheel of a state-issued 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid and caught the attention of Chicago police, according to court records. Officers pulled Cullerton over and noticed he had bloodshot eyes and a strong odor of alcohol. His blood alcohol level was .188 — more than twice the legal limit. It was the third time he had been charged with a DUI, but his guilty plea on Friday marked his first DUI conviction, with the other DUI charges either being reduced or dropped, records show.

His father, a North Side Democrat, later said the SUV was to be used for state business, and Garritt Cullerton, employed as a state researcher, was not authorized to drive it.