A 27-year-old Covington man who was arrested on drunken driving charges eight times in three years has been ordered to serve an additional 10 years in prison, making his total sentence 20 years.

Christopher Gilson pleaded guilty last month to two counts of fourth-offense DWI. State Judge Elaine DiMiceli sentenced him to 10 years in prison and ordered that the sentence be served after he completes another 10-year term he had been serving for drunken driving.

Gilson was charged with fourth-offense DWI because Louisiana law specifies punishment for fourth and subsequent DWI offenses. It does not contain specific provisions for a fifth, sixth, seventh or eighth offense.

Gilson was booked with his latest DWI offense Nov. 8, 2004, in Mandeville after he drove his car over several curbs, flattening all four tires, according to police. Officers found him about 6 a.m., dazed and slumped behind the wheel of his truck in a flower bed in the 600 block of Lafitte Street.

Mandeville police Sgt. Ron Ruple said at the time that it was Gilson’s eighth drunken-driving arrest since September 2001. Although eight DWI charges are not unusual, Ruple said, it is rare for a driver to incur so many in such a short period.

At the time of the November 2004 arrest, Gilson was supposed to have been under home incarceration as a result of previous DWI convictions. His license had been suspended. He was sent to the parish jail in Covington, and his probation was revoked.

According to court records, he pleaded guilty to five counts of DWI on March 25, 2003, including two second offenses, a third offense and two fourth offenses.

He had been fined a total of $13,750 and ordered to attend drug court as well as enroll in a substance abuse program and a driver improvement program. He also was ordered to forfeit his vehicle and undergo home incarceration for two years.

His five sentences included two stretches of six months in prison, one stretch of three years and two stretches of 10 years, all to be served simultaneously. All but 60 days of those were suspended, and he was placed on probation for five years. Those five sentences were reimposed after his probation was revoked at a Dec. 17, 2004, hearing.

A 2001 revision to Louisiana’s repeat drunken-driving law requires judges to suspend all but 30 days of a third-offender’s sentence and all but 60 days of a fourth-offender’s sentence.

Gilson’s string of arrests began Sept. 2, 2001, and continued with his second arrest three days later, according to police. One of the charges was thrown out in October 2001 because it could not be proven that Gilson was properly read his rights.

His other arrests were Nov. 22, 2001; May 15, 2002; July 21, 2002; Dec. 17, 2002; and June 18, 2004.

Gilson also has pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana, speeding and improper lane usage. DiMiceli sentenced Gilson to 10 years in prison without benefit of parole on Jan. 8 of this year.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 7:51 am and is filed under DWI Attorney. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.