If you drive diagonally across Ohio from Cincinnati, you will arrive in Mahoning County after you spend about five hours on the road. A 31-year-old man won’t be making that drive in the near future, however.
He was recently sentenced for operating a vehicle under the influence; his punishment includes suspension of his driver’s license for five years. Most people would not consider that the harshest part of the sentence, however.
For many, the most difficult part of the man’s sentence would be the 180 days he must spend in jail for his fourth drunk driving violation in the past six years. After he spends 60 days in the Portage County jail, he will be moved to a facility for addiction treatment and counseling.
He will also be required to spend four years on probation and continue receiving counseling during that time. In addition, he must after his release from jail find full-time work and then keep working for the duration of the probation.
There’s even more: three years of his driver’s license suspension will be a hard suspension (no driving of any vehicle for any reason), followed by restricted driving privileges so that he can drive to work, probation meetings and counseling appointments.
The vehicle he drives must be decked out with so-called party plates and an ignition interlock device. His current vehicle was ordered forfeited to the Ohio State Highway Patrol and he was fined $281.
That lengthy list of punishments was part of a newspaper article that also noted that the man was represented by a public defender.
One of the jobs of an experienced criminal defense attorney is to protect your rights and your freedom. And if you are guilty of an OVI violation, the goal is always to ensure that punishment does not exceed the crime.
