A Schenectady man has pleaded guilty in a felony drunk driving case last Wednesday in Saratoga County. This plea is what officials say is the first conviction in the county, under a strict DWI law signed by Gov. Cuomo last year named “Vince’s Law”. The law which amended vehicle and traffic laws to raise the penalty for repeat offenders of those who commit three or more DWI related offenses within 15 years, was named after Vincent Russo, an Onondaga County man who died after a drunk driver with four prior DWI convictions and one still pending DWI charge hit him head on in 2011. The law also imposes a maximum prison sentence of up to seven years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The Schenectady man was arrested this past June by the Saratoga Springs Police Department for driving the wrong way down a one way street. He was also driving without a license at the time, because his license was revoked due to previous DWI convictions. It was found that the man had four prior DWI-related convictions, the most recent being in 2010 and the earliest in 2005, and a pending DWI in Schenectady County, according to officials. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 5, 2015. He is expected to be sentenced to state prison and face a lifetime revocation of his driver’s license.
For more on what Karen Heggen the Saratoga County District Attorney has to report on the first Vince’s Law conviction, click here.
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