CANFIELD Plea deal ends DUI case for Youngstown official

By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
CANFIELD -- Jeffrey L. Chagnot, Youngstown economic development director, will serve three days in a driver's intervention program in lieu of jail on a conviction of driving under the influence.
Chagnot and his lawyer, John J. Dixon, reached a plea agreement Friday with Edward F. Sturgeon, assistant Mahoning County prosecutor. The agreement calls for Chagnot to continue outpatient treatment for substance abuse.
Sturgeon said the plea agreement considered the DUI, received in September 2001, as a first offense in six years, even though Chagnot was convicted of DUI in October 1995. The span between his 1995 conviction and 2001 arrest was five years 11 months.
A second DUI conviction within six years means a minimum of 10 days in jail or five days in jail and a minimum of 18 days of electronically monitored house arrest.
Mahoning County Judge Scott Hunter accepted Chagnot's plea agreement and no-contest plea. The judge found Chagnot guilty, sentenced him to 180 days in jail, suspended 177 days, fined him $250 and placed him on one year's probation.
Chagnot's outpatient treatment will be monitored by the county probation department, Judge Hunter said.
Dixon told the judge that Chagnot "has come to grips" with the fact that he can use the help of a substance abuse program. The lawyer said his client sought treatment after his arrest and has stayed out of trouble since then.
The DUI arrest happened at 7:25 p.m. Sept. 18, 2001, in Boardman and was transferred to Canfield court.
A trooper with the Ohio State Highway Patrol spotted Chagnot's 2000 Pontiac going left of center as it traveled on Tippecanoe Road north of Lockwood Boulevard and pulled it over.
The trooper, who noticed the odor of alcohol, had Chagnot step out of the car to take field sobriety tests. Based on Chagnot's inability to successfully complete the tests, he was taken to the patrol's Canfield post for a breath test, which he refused, the patrol said.
Chagnot has said that he tried to blow into the machine but, because of his diminished lung capacity due to smoking, wasn't able.
Chagnot was charged with DUI, driving left of center, having an open container of alcohol and no seat belt. The container was a bottle of beer, the patrol said.
The patrol took Chagnot's license, transported him to the county jail and had his car towed. The jail booked and released Chagnot that night.
He later was given privileges that allowed him to drive to work.
What's happened
In court Friday, the charges of driving left of center and having an open container were dismissed. Chagnot was fined $30 on the seat-belt violation.
"It was bad judgment. I had been off that day, feeling a little depressed over the events of 9/11," Chagnot said last month. "I made a bad decision. I'm sorry it happened."
Chagnot's Oct. 13, 1995, DUI happened in Austintown. Then-Judge Fred H. Bailey sentenced Chagnot to 30 days in jail, suspended 27, and allowed three days in a driver's intervention program in lieu of jail. Chagnot was also fined $200 and placed on one year's probation.
In 1987, Chagnot was charged in municipal court with DUI and failure to maintain an assured clear distance after a two-car accident on Fifth Avenue.
Court records show that the DUI charge was amended to reckless operation Feb. 3, 1998, and Chagnot pleaded no contest. The assured-clear-distance charge was dismissed.
Judge Luke Levy fined Chagnot $25 and costs, records show.