Britney Spears formally charged with DUI in California

Pop star Britney Spears on Thursday was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, prosecutors outside Los Angeles said -- but she could avoid jail time with a plea deal.

The criminal complaint does not specify which substance the 44-year-old singer was allegedly using when she was arrested in early March. 

Spears is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday in a courtroom in Ventura County, which borders Los Angeles County.

She is not required to attend the hearing because the charge is a misdemeanor, and can be represented by her attorney, prosecutors said in a statement. 

Spears had phenomenal early music success in the late 1990s with hits like "...Baby One More Time" but has largely stepped back from music in recent years. 

Following her arrest, a representative for the singer described the incident as "completely inexcusable" and said Spears would "take the right steps and comply with the law."

Since then, she checked herself into rehab.

Prosecutors said in their statement that Spears could avoid jail time by agreeing to a plea deal -- a typical move in cases with no prior convictions, no injury, a low blood alcohol level and defendants who voluntarily enter a rehab program.

Such a move would likely result in a guilty plea for reckless driving involving drugs and/or alcohol, which would see her placed on probation for 12 months. She would also have to take a court-ordered driver safety class and pay a fine.

"This offer will be extended to Ms Spears on Monday," prosecutors said.

Following a public breakdown in 2007, Spears was placed under the conservatorship of her father Jamie Spears, who controlled her money and her personal life, even as she continued to perform high-profile concerts.

The conservatorship was dissolved by a Los Angeles court in 2021, after a groundswell of public support to "Free Britney."

In her 2023 memoir "The Woman in Me," Spears insisted she never did hard drugs and that she did not have a drinking problem, but she admitted that she was taking Adderall, the ADHD medication.