A 49-year-old man pleaded guilty to charges of being drunk and drinking alcohol while driving a bus with dozens of young YMCA campers south of Duluth.

Patrick D. Bullard, of Cannon Falls, Minn., admitted in Carlton County District Court on Tuesday to one count of gross-misdemeanor drunken driving in connection with operating the bus late in the morning on Aug. 21 on Interstate 35 while intoxicated. Three other alcohol-related counts were dismissed as part of the plea deal.

A roadside breath test measured Bullard's blood alcohol content at 0.257%, according to the charges. The maximum legal limit in Minnesota for the operator of a commercial vehicle is 0.04%.

Judge Rebekka Stumme sentenced him to a year in jail, but she set aside all but the two days he served after his arrest and placed him on two years' probation. He also was assessed more than $1,100 in fines and fees.

Terms of his probation include no alcohol or illicit drug use, staying out of bars and liquor stores, and agreeing to random testing.

Bullard was fired immediately, said John Benjamin, president of the Eagan-based Northfield Lines charter bus company.

The bus was occupied by 35 boys ages 11 to 14 and two adult chaperones. They boarded in Shoreview and were heading to the YMCA's Camp Warren south of Eveleth, Benjamin said.

One of the chaperones told law enforcement he saw Bullard driving while drinking from a cup that troopers later determined contained whiskey, the criminal complaint read.

Emergency dispatch received a complaint that the bus was going from shoulder to shoulder along northbound I-35, the complaint continued.

State troopers saw the bus go onto the shoulder and kick up dust. Troopers turned on their emergency lights, but the driver kept going and "continued to weave considerably," the complaint read.

Once the troopers pulled up next to the bus, Bullard pulled over and appeared "quite dazed and disoriented," the charges continued. Troopers found in his backpack a 1.75-liter bottle of whiskey that was one-third empty. In his cup holder was a mixed drink that smelled of whiskey.