• 11
  • July
    2012

A New York man who lives about 200 miles northwest of Newburgh pleaded guilty yesterday to driving while intoxicated on his way to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting back in March.

The 30-year-old Sherrill, New York, man ran into a parked pick-up truck before his arrest.

He pleaded guilty to aggravated driving while intoxicated, a Class E felony. At the time of his arrest, his blood alcohol was apparently tested at 0.24 percent, or three times the legal threshold of 0.08 percent.

Law enforcement officials say he was speeding when he lost control of his car as he was attempting to negotiate a curve in the road.

The man said that on that day, he had been working on a drywall project in his home and consuming alcoholic drinks as he worked. When the judge asked how many beverages he'd had, the man replied that it had been "15 to 20."

He has a previous DWI conviction, stemming from a 2008 arrest.

The man's attorney said his client has been sober since his March arrest "and is working hard to get back on track."

The defendant will be sentenced at a September hearing in Madison County Court.

According to a newspaper account, he faces a sentence of four weekends in the county jail, plus five years of probation, a $1,000 fine and a mandated installation of an ignition interlock device in any vehicle he drives after his driver's license is reinstated.

He had faced a possible year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

We wish the man all the best as he works on his recovery.

Source: Oneida Dispatch, "Sherrill man pleads guilty to driving drunk to AA meeting, hitting parked truck," July 10, 2012