A Louisiana man will face up to 35 years in prison as a result of seven driving while intoxicated convictions.
Yilver Ponce pleaded guilty to seven DWIs in a period of less than 10 years. His first guilty plea hit the books on 2000. He pleaded guilty to give DWI charges between July 12 and August 19 of 2005 in the St. Tammany Parish area of Louisiana.
In Louisiana, judges are required to allow a person to attend rehabilitation before handing down a jail sentence. This means Ponce spent about 60 days in jail initially for the charges. The law set the maximum at 60 days if a person had not attended a rehab program.
The law has changed, though. In July of 2005, Governor Kathleen Blanco passed a new law that allowed judges to inflict harsher punishments at their discretion. This is described in a policy change from wanting to rehabilitate offenders to simply wanting to get them off the road. It should be no surprise MADD was one of the instrumental supporters of this new law.
The change in the law means that Ponce met new challenges when he pleaded guilt to DWI in February of 2008. When the case hit court on October 20 of this year, a judge revoked Ponce's probation and sentenced him to 20 years for his previous offenses. He then sentenced him to an additional 15 years, making the sentence total 35 years all together.
This change in policy points out a fundamental issue with DWI legislation changes that go retroactive. Ponce undoubtedly committed several crimes. However, at the time he committed these crimes he was not eligible for a jail sentence. It is possible Ponce pleaded guilty to his previous charges without considering his defense fully because he knew he was not eligible for jail time and elected to simply undergo rehabilitation treatment.
This problem comes up whenever a state decides to increase the severity of DUI/DWI legislation and punishment. 20 years ago, driving drunk was very different than it is today. Even 5 years ago, this was a different crime. Look back periods in many states stretch back as long as 10 years, however. It is a harsh reality that people who pleaded guilty when a DUI simply meant a "slap on the wrist" and will now face 20 plus years in jail.
