Lauri Peterson Reveals She’s ‘Blindsided’ By Her Son Josh Waring’s Guilty Plea Deal In Attempted Murder Case!

Lauri Peterson feels “blindsided” by her son Josh Waring’s guilty plea. “Josh said he would never, ever, ever plea for something that he didn’t do. I still think that’s true,” the former Real Housewives of Orange County star told In Touch.

“He was really looking forward to the upcoming trial and realistically, the trial probably wouldn’t have happened until the end of the year.”

Peterson reveals Josh has been in solitary confinement for over three months and says the experience “broke him,” so he “gave in.”

“I just want him to stay sober,” she said. “Josh is not a violent person. He has never been a violent person. I don’t worry about that.”

Now that Waring is a free man, Peterson says his woes aren’t exactly over because “he’ll have a mark over his head” due to his guilty plea.

“There’s consequences to that,” she told In Touch. “It’ll be life-altering for him. Maybe that will be kind of like the invisible handcuffs on him as a reminder to not ever go back to drugs again.”

Despite the outcome, Lauri reveals that she is overjoyed to see her son again. “Well, I’m just so excited. First of all, just to be able to touch him,” she shared. “You know, I’m feeling so happy just to get the chance to actually just wrap my arms around him.”

 “There’s also another side of me that … to get to this point, and for him to have to plea, that was a really tough decision. I know that’s really tough on Josh and that’s going to be hard to go forward with,” she added. “At some point, we’re just going to have to close the chapter and move on into the next … and move into a recovery process because it’s going to take some time to get through this.”

According to court records, Waring pleaded guilty on Friday to several felony counts including assault with a firearm, evading a police officer, 2 counts of assault, hit-and-run with property damage and battery according to TMZ.

“Josh’s ordeal in jail nearly broke his spirit,” Josh Waring’s attorney Joel Garson told PEOPLE.

“We are grateful the prosecution team was able to carefully consider all of the problems it had with the case, as well as the equities in favor of Josh and offer us a plea deal that got Josh out immediately.”

“He was looking at a potential sentence of 65 years to life, and getting out today will mark the beginning of a new life for him. Because of Josh’s case, and with a very patient judge, we were able to expose the illegal practice of taping attorney-client telephones calls here in Orange County by the Sheriff’s Department and reveal the cruel treatment of inmates by the Sheriff’s Department. We only hope the lessons of Josh’s case will help other inmates.”

Garson explained that his client was awarded time served and was released on Friday.

Waring was behind bars since 2016. During his prison sentence, he was attacked by another inmate in October 2019. Josh suffered injuries to his face and chest, getting 20 stitches.

In June 2018, Waring also alleged a sheriff’s deputy opened fire with a pepper ball gun in the unit where Waring was housed.

Waring is also part of a federal class-action lawsuit alleging a variety of issues at the county jails. Waring’s case also brought to light a scandal involving the improper recording of phone calls between attorneys and their clients from the jails.

As previously reported, Waring was charged with attempted murder after allegedly opening fire on two people in Costa Mesa and then leading cops on a wild car chase on June 20, 2016. Waring was eventually captured and charged with three counts of attempted murder and several other felony and misdemeanor charges.

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