Man Gets Six Years For Sixth DUI in Nine Years

Posted by Phoenix DUI Attorney Nick Alcock:

When it comes to persistence, no one can fault 41-year-old Horatio Rodriquez-Martinez, the Chicago man who pleaded guilty recently to his sixth DUI in nine years. If you mathematically factor in the mandatory jail time for repeat offenses, that means he pretty much drove drunk every time he got released. This most recent “impressive” (for lack of a better word) feat will land him behind bars for much longer this go round.

Rodriquez-Martinez was sentenced to six years by Associate Judge Lauren Gottainer Edidin earlier this week for his most recent run at the drunk driving record. Right now, he’s tied with Anderson Sotomayor of New Jersey. That guy got his first five DUIs over five weeks, and his sixth shortly thereafter. At least it took Rodriquez-Martinez nine years to hit six.

Rodriguez-Martinez’s sixth DUI conviction happened after he was pulled over for driving erratically back in January. His BAC was dangerously high at 0.276, more than three times the legal limit in Illinois. He told police that he had 24 beers at a friend’s house before driving. There were also open beer cans and spilled beer in the vehicle itself. Prosecutors were also quick to point out to the judge that the guilty plea marks the sixth time Rodriguez-Martinez has been convicted of a DUI in the past nine yeas.

Rodriquez-Martinez was also ordered to serve three years of probation after his release from prison, to undergo drug and alcohol treatment while in prison, and to pay fines and fees of $6,710.

Rodriquez-Martinez did not say anything during the brief hearing, but the judge told him it would be a while before he could get behind the wheel again. “Sir you cannot drive a vehicle when you get out, until you have a valid license,” Gottainer Edidin said. “And I believe that will be a very, very long time.”

A person’s sixth DUI results in a severe felony charge in Illinois. It also means that the person’s license is suspended for life with no relief available.

So yeah, Judge Edidin, that definitely qualifies as a “long time.”