Another OVI conviction produces 5-year prison term
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
John H. Buck Jr., 42, of Mahoning Avenue, Niles, was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday for his eighth conviction of operating a motor vehicle while impaired.
Judge John M. Stuard of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court also ordered that Buck serve a lifetime driver’s-license suspension.
It is essentially the same sentence that Cortland man Ricky Slabaugh, 49, received earlier in the week from Judge Peter Kontos of common pleas court.
Buck had a blood-alcohol level of .203, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 Aug. 31 when he was arrested by the Ohio State Highway Patrol on state Route 11 in Trumbull County for driving 91 mph while his juvenile son was in the car.
Buck has had his license suspended 32 times and has been convicted of driving while under court-imposed suspensions 13 times.
Slabaugh had his son in his car when he was arrested Sept. 9 on Bradley-Brownlee Road in Johnston Township. His blood-alcohol level exceeded the legal limit, but his blood also showed marijuana intoxication exceeding the level Ohio law says indicates marijuana intoxication.
In November 2010, Keith Urso, then 50, of Warren, was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court for his 15th drunken driving conviction.
Urso’s blood-alcohol level was 0.286 when he was arrested at state Route 88 and Bazetta Road in Mecca Township on Jan. 31, 2010.
Donald P. Williams Jr., 46, of Austintown, was sentenced in June to 16 years in prison for killing three Marine Corps recruits in a crash on state Route 5 just west of Warren March 31, 2010.
A test of Williams’ blood indicated he had Valium in his system in sufficient quantities to produce a “significant reduction in alertness.” Williams had no prescription for the drug and was convicted of drug possession.