California cheese magnate’s wife pleads no contest to drunk driving charges in Merced
Lori Gallo, the wife of a San Joaquin Valley cheese tycoon, pleaded no contest Thursday to felony drunk driving charges after causing a multi-car crash in Merced last year.
Merced County Superior Court Judge Carol K. Ash indicated Gallo could spend up to one year in the county jail and five years of formal probation, said Deputy District Attorney Andre Margain.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 6 at 8:30 a.m.
Gallo, who is married to Joseph Farms CEO Michael Gallo, was arrested on Jan. 22 last year after witnesses and police said she was driving her Maserati at a high rate of speed on G Street. As she approached Cardella Road, she sideswiped a Lexus and then a Honda that was stopped at the intersection.
Both the Maserati and Lexus went into a ditch several hundred feet away, police said, and another car was damaged after hitting a wheel and tire that had been torn off Gallo’s sports car.
Gallo was arrested and charged with two felonies, driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage causing injury and driving with a .08% blood alcohol content causing injury.
Peter Jones, Gallo’s attorney, has said to the judge that Gallo has been diligently attending Alcoholics Anonymous classes three times a week since three days after the crash. And she’s been participating in a recovery program.
This story was originally published February 23, 2023 at 3:27 PM with the headline "California cheese magnate’s wife pleads no contest to drunk driving charges in Merced."
