The Santa Rosa Press Telegram has reported that a Northern California man has been sentenced to five years in a California state prison for his 8th DUI conviction.
Barton Riley Shafer, 34, of Santa Rosa, California was caught driving with a 0.17 percent blood alcohol content on May 17th of this year.
Shafter pleaded no contest to California DUI and driving on a suspended license. In addition, he admitted three prior felony convictions in California within the last ten years and serving prison time for two of them.
In addition to serving 5 years in prison, Shafer will not be able to obtain a driver’s license for at least ten years after his release.
It could be worse. Had Shafer been caught in Texas, he could have been sentenced to life in prison like Luis Torres Govea. In November of 2012, a jury found that Govea was a habitual offender and sided with the prosecution in sentencing him to life for a 5th DUI. Govea will be eligible for parole after serving at least 15 years of his life sentence.
Should different states have such wide discrepancies in their DUI sentences?
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