One OWI charge and conviction in Waukesha is serious enough; once one starts entering the realm of multiple drunk driving arrests, he or she starts looking at much harsher penalties. The hope is that the penalties associated with a conviction are enough to deter anyone from even thinking of making such a mistake again. However, if it appears as though one’s actions are showing that they either don’t understand the gravity of he or she is doing or, worse yet, he or she is simply indifferent to those penalties, then the court may be left with little choice but to hand out sentences aimed at being more punitive than rehabilitative.
The case of a Plainfield man seems to demonstrate this point. The man was recently convicted for operating while intoxicated for the tenth time. Though his last conviction was over 9 years ago, it was difficult for the court to ignore his eight other convictions since 1993. Knowing this, the judge sentenced the man to five years in prison followed by five more years of extended supervision. Beyond that, the man will only be permitted to drive with an ignition interlock device in his vehicle for another three years.
Losing one’s freedom is difficult enough; having one’s rights limited beyond that only compounds that difficulty. Yet driving is a privilege, not a right, and once it’s been taken away, it may take quite a bit of contrition and attrition to get it back. If one is facing a repeat OWI offense and yet still hopes to retain this privilege, an experienced defense attorney may be his or her best hope in making that happen.
Source: WAOW “Man gets five years in prison for 10th OWI” Robert Imrie, Oct. 01, 2013