Sports stars just get all the luck, don’t they? First the UCLA basketball players get bailed out of a Chinese jail after shoplifting, not Romelu Lukaku is avoiding jail time in another foreign country: the United States.
The Belgian striker will pay a $450 fine to avoid potentially six months in jail stemming from a series of noise complaints while staying in Beverly Hills over the summer.
Lukaku was in L.A. for much of the summer ahead of his transfer from Everton to Manchester United, even spending the Fourth of July with future teammate Paul Pogba. A week prior, the hulking forward apparently enjoyed his time in the States too much as cops were called to his residence five times for partying too loudly.
A deal was worked out Tuesday allowing Lukaku to avoid jail time with the aforementioned fine. His lawyer will pay closer to $600 in fines on Dec. 18 when the case returns to court.
Stunningly, the Belgium Prime Minister Charles Michel was not needed to prevent Lukaku from wasting away in an L.A. jail. Lukaku did not give thanks to Michel nor did Lukaku’s father blast Michel for not really doing anything. Not stunningly, the prime minister did not tweet out that Lukaku should have been left in an American jail or call Lukaku’s father a fool demanding he be praised for doing his job.
Lukaku won’t need any of those things because he has money. And as sports teaches us all, money trumps everything in the court of law.