Newton Falls man sent to prison after 8th OVI

YOUNGSTOWN — A Newton Falls man will spend four months in prison plus a month in the Mahoning County jail after he was sentenced today in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for his eighth OVI charge.

Joseph Rutherford, 41, will also have his license suspended for five years and when he gets it back he has to have an ignition interlock system on his vehicle and also have special restricted plates that designate him a repeat OVI offender.

Rutherford was arrested about 7:45 p.m. April 3 by a trooper from the Canfield Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol after he was pulled over for erratic driving on Interstate 80.

As part of his sentence, which was agreed upon by defense attorneys and prosecutors and handed down by Judge Maureen Sweeney, Rutherford must also complete a six month substance abuse treatment program at Community Corrections Association. He will serve the month in jail after he is released from prison.