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Man with dozen DUIs sentenced for latest one
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Judge Lou D’Apolito said doing something more than a dozen times is not a “slip,” as a man who was being sentenced for at least his 13th conviction for driving drunk told him Wednesday.
“When you fall on a patch of ice a dozen times, that’s not a slip,” Judge D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court said.
Bradley Parker, 51, of Masury, was sentenced to three years in prison with a chance for judicial release after he has served six months.
He pleaded guilty April 29 to a third-degree felony charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and driving under an OVI license suspension.
He was arrested after he was stopped by a deputy of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 15.
Court records dating back to 1996 show Parker being convicted of OVI at least a dozen times, including three prior felony convictions, one in 2001 and 2009 from Mahoning County and another in 2009 from Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. In Ohio, a sixth OVI within 20 years is a felony.
Judge D’Apolito asked Parker if he ever thought when he got behind the wheel while he was drunk if he would hit someone. Parker said he did, but he said that still didn’t stop him.
“I just took it for granted this could never happen to me,” Parker said.
Parker said he did not start drinking until he was in his 20s and for a time, there was not the stigma attached to drinking and driving as there is today. He said several times he was pulled over while drunk by police, who merely took whatever he was drinking, poured it on the ground and let him go.
Judge D’Apolito said Parker could not blame youth for a pattern of had behavior as an adult.
“You were not a kid in 2009. That didn’t stop you,” Judge D’Apolito said alluding to his last felony conviction. “You’re lucky to be alive, and more important to me, someone else is lucky to be alive.”
Parker said he was concerned about his mother and wants to stop drinking for her. Judge D’Apolito said that was good, but there are others besides his mother Parker needs to care about.
“The citizens are important,” Judge D’Apolito. “The innocent victims of people who drive drunk.”
Prosecutors said they would stand silent if Parker files a request for judicial release. Judge D’Apolito said he would only consider a request if Parker behaves himself in prison and also receives treatment for his drinking and can tell the judge how he will address his drinking in the future.
“I won’t accept a release without a plan of how you are going to stay straight,” Judge D’Apolito said.
Judge D’Apolito said if Parker is released from prison, he will first be sent to a halfway house to receive treatment for his drinking, and if that works, he may get work-release privileges.
Although Parker was given credit for 115 days served in the county jail while awaiting the outcome of his case, that does not count against his time for judicial release. He must serve six months in prison before he can file his request.