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Friday, Jan 25, 2013 3:30 PM UTC

‘American Pie’ singer fined for speeding in Maine

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Topics: From the Wires,

'American Pie' singer fined for speeding in MaineIn this Juy 3, 2012 file photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, Don McLean performs at the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. McLean has been fined $400 for driving his Chrysler too fast through a school zone in Maine and has paid the levy. He had contested the charge in September, saying school zone warning lights weren't flashing. He had requested a trial. Police said during a 40-minute proceeding in Rockland District Court on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, the warning lights were flashing. Judge Patricia Worth found McLean had been speeding in a school zone in Rockport. But she lowered what would be a $515 fine if uncontested to $400. McLean immediately paid up. McLean lives in nearby Camden, along Maine's coast. (Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Darrin Bush) (Credit: AP)

ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — “American Pie” singer Don McLean has been fined $400 for driving his Chrysler too fast through a Maine school zone.

McLean’s lawyer says he was driving 43 mph in an area that has a limit of 15 mph when school zone warning lights are flashing and 45 mph when they’re not. He argued that the lights were off, but police said in Rockland District Court on Thursday that they were on.

A judge lowered the fine from $515 to $400, and McLean immediately paid up.

McLean lives in nearby Camden, along Maine’s coast. He burst into popularity in 1971 with his hit “American Pie,” about the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in a plane crash on Feb. 3, 1959 — The Day the Music Died.

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