Saturday, April 19, 2008
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Columbiana County sheriff David Smith
The sheriff said he was ‘sincerely sorry for the situation.’
SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR
CAMBRIDGE — Columbiana Sheriff David L. Smith, 57, entered a guilty plea to a drunken-driving charge that has tarnished his law enforcement career.
Smith entered the plea Friday morning in Cambridge Municipal Court to the first-degree misdemeanor charge.
Judge John Mark Nicholson sentenced Smith to 20 days in jail and suspended 17.
In lieu of serving three days in jail, Smith can complete a 72-hour inpatient alcohol education session through any qualified program.
The judge also fined Smith $600, placed him on probation for a year and suspended his driver’s license for six months, retroactive to his arrest Oct. 11, 2007, in Guernsey County.
Companion charges of speeding and a marked-lanes violation were dismissed. “Your honor, I just would like to say that I apologize to the citizens of Guernsey County and the citizens of Columbiana County for putting them in this situation,” Smith said after entering his plea. “I know this has been a long drawn-out affair, and [I] simply state to the court that I’m sincerely sorry for the situation.”
Smith had gone to a Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association meeting in Columbus that began at 10 a.m. and ended at 2 p.m. No alcohol was consumed during the meeting or lunch break. His whereabouts afterward are unknown.
Trooper Scott Bayless of the Cambridge post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol stopped Smith about 9:30 p.m. Oct. 11 in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70. Bayless said Smith was speeding, swerving and nearly struck a tractor-trailer.
Smith reportedly denied consuming any alcohol when asked by the trooper. He also reportedly failed field sobriety tests twice. At the Cambridge OSHP post, Smith gave a urine sample that showed he had an alcohol level of .222 percent, more than twice the legal limit.
Bradley P. Koffel, Smith’s lawyer, said that at no time did Smith try to duck the charge.
“I would like the court to know that it has been my client’s intentions from Day One to accept responsibility for his poor judgment in getting behind the wheel and operating a vehicle [after consuming alcohol],” Koffel said. “On my advice, I strongly encouraged him to enter a ‘not guilty’ plea and allow me to look at the evidence before you would ... throw a career away, essentially, under the Ohio Revised Code.”
Under Ohio law, a person cannot run for sheriff if convicted of a first-degree misdemeanor.
“You’ll not find a more contrite individual in the courtroom,” Koffel said. “His stellar career in law enforcement serving his constituents is tarnished, but I believe in due time the luster will be restored to the name David Smith.”
Smith was a pioneer in making undercover busts in Columbiana County as well as a competent administrator.
The judge said he and Cambridge Law Director William Ferguson wanted Smith to be treated no differently than any other offender facing the same charges.
Smith can complete his current term that ends Dec. 31. He withdrew from the Columbiana County sheriff’s race.
Raymond Stone, the Perry Township police chief, is the Republican candidate who is running against Leetonia Police Chief John Soldano, a Democrat.