Jay Barker, the estranged husband of country singer Sara Evans, was found guilty of misdemeanor reckless endangerment on Thursday morning (June 9) in Nashville. The charge was a reduction from the initial felony charges he faced after a January incident near her house in Nashville.

Barker was arrested on Jan. 15 on charges that he'd tried to ram a car Evans was riding in with his car. The 4AM arrest came after he allegedly tried to back his vehicle into hers as she was being driven home from a party in the neighborhood. He reportedly fled the scene at first, but later returned to talk to police. They arrested him on felony aggravated assault charges and set his bond at $10,000.

attachment-jay barker mug shot
Metro Nashville PD
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TMZ reports that Barker pled down to the misdemeanor charge, agreeing to a "best interest plea." His sentence is 11 months and 29 days of probation, meaning he'll avoid jail time. He'll also need to give up any weapons he owns and complete a 26-week batterers intervention program.

Evans hasn't commented on the case since the arrest, and Barker wiped his Jay Barker Show Instagram page clean. The former college quarterback at the University of Alabama is now a radio host. He works as the mid-day show host at Tide 100.9 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Tide 100.9 is owned by Taste of Country's parent company, Townsquare Media.

The arrest report revealed that the couple had separated, and Evans had filed for divorce five months prior to the incident. In fact, they'd been separated since April 2021, with Barker's primary residence listed as Homewood, Ala. The couple do not have any kids together, but both brought children into the relationship, a situation Evans has talked about openly and warmly since their marriage in 2008.

There's been no public confirmation that the divorce has been finalized.

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