"Please, your honor, I made a mistake," he said. "I am asking for a second chance in life ... to be a role model for my sons."

Moments later, Conrad had tears of joy as family members in the audience hugged and celebrated the outcome. Under terms of his one-year suspended imposition of sentence, he will not have to report a felony on his record when applying for most jobs, officials said.

Asked about an earlier statement that he would not have represented Conrad if he thought he was lying, defense lawyer Scott Rosenblum said, "There are gray areas. To me, there is a difference between an intentional lie and an innocent misrepresentation."

Lang did not comment outside court. But another prosecutor in the audience could be heard sarcastically telling two women nearby that a year on probation seemed fair, given that the false report had opened Jones to a potential prison term of 10 years to life.

The incident started early on the morning of Aug. 15, 2007, when Jones was found passed out in the driver's seat of a car stopped in the drive-through lane of the Jack-In-The-Box restaurant at 2163 South Grand Boulevard.