A Pasco man's history of driving drunk caught up with him Tuesday.
Hector Orozco was sentenced to two years and one month in prison for his seventh and eighth drunken driving convictions.
Typically a DUI charge, a gross misdemeanor, carries a county jail sentence. But Orozco's two cases fell under an updated state law that makes it a felony if the suspect has had four prior DUI convictions in the last 10 years.
Orozco reportedly had six prior alcohol-related offenses, but the four that applied under the law occurred between January 2002 and January 2007.
In the last eight months he was arrested twice while driving under the influence of alcohol. He pleaded guilty Nov. 10 in Franklin County Superior Court to two counts of felony DUI and one count of possession of cocaine.
Orozco turns 55 on Sunday.
He didn't have anything to say to the court Tuesday before his sentencing.
Orozco was arrested March 3 after a Washington State Patrol trooper spotted him driving without his seat belt on. Orozco's car was stopped on Pasco's Columbia Street and, through slurred words, he told the trooper he'd had "not very much" alcohol before getting behind the wheel, according to court documents.
However, his blood-alcohol registered 0.11 percent at the scene, and later 0.139 and 0.136 percent at the jail, documents said.
The legal limit to drive in Washington is 0.08 percent.
He was released from custody before the case went to trial and was ordered not to drink any alcohol.
But on Oct. 7 another trooper pulled over Orozco's car because the headlights weren't on.
While talking to Orozco in a parking lot next to Highway 397 at the cable bridge, the trooper reportedly smelled intoxicants on Orozco's breath and noticed several beer cans in the car.
A voluntary breath test at the scene showed 0.144 percent. A plastic bag with cocaine was found in his shirt pocket during a search at the jail.
Orozco's criminal history gave him a standard sentencing range of one year and 10 months to two years and five months in prison on each felony DUI.
Deputy Prosecutor Brian Hultgrenn recommended the two-year, one-month term.
Defense attorney Bob Thompson agreed with the sentence, saying his client "clearly needs" treatment and can find such programs in prison.
Each conviction carries mandatory DUI costs of $2,273.50, the court said.
Similar stories:
Pasco man pleads guilty to vehicular homicide
Pasco man pleads guilty to vehicular homicide
A Pasco man on Thursday admitted he was recklessly driving when he crashed his car on Interstate 82, killing his friend.
Favian Castro, 22, pleaded guilty in Benton County Superior Court to one count of vehicular homicide.
Castro and three friends were heading to a Umatilla bar April 23 when he lost control on the highway three miles east of Kennewick near Locust Grove Road, court documents said.
Pasco woman pleads innocent to vehicular assault
Pasco woman pleads innocent to vehicular assault
A 30-year-old Pasco woman had nearly three times the legal limit of alcohol in her system last month when her car slammed into the back of an SUV on Interstate 182, according to troopers.
Dina Maria Aguilar pleaded innocent Tuesday in Franklin County Superior Court to vehicular assault and failure to stop and identify at the scene of an injury accident, both felonies.
Her trial is set for Dec. 14.
FIFTH DUI: Toppenish man charged with felony DUI
FIFTH DUI: Toppenish man charged with felony DUI
YAKIMA — A repeat drunken driver from Toppenish who got his first DUI before he was old enough to drink legally has been charged with felony DUI.
Depending on his record, Dwayne Ray Jack faces anywhere from six months in jail to eight years in prison if convicted under a 2006 state law that makes four DUIs in 10 years or less a felony.
Jack, 27, was arrested Oct. 6 after a traffic stop in Toppenish. Police said he had a blood-alcohol level of .21 percent, about 2 1/2 times the legal limit to drive.
Police roundup: Man gets jail time for knife threats
Police roundup: Man gets jail time for knife threats
A 27-year-old man will spend a year in jail for threatening to kill a Kennewick family while walking around in a neighborhood with a knife.
Tyrone Llawson Hopstad of Kennewick pleaded guilty in Benton County Superior Court to felony harassment.
Judge Craig Matheson allowed Hopstad to do the time either on jail work release or a work crew.
Man sentenced for vehicular assault
Man sentenced for vehicular assault
A 51-year-old man will spend just over a year in prison for crashing into a car and injuring the driver in south Richland, then continuing on to his job in Hermiston with officers from three agencies in pursuit.
Brian Wayne Romeike of Richland was under the influence of alcohol in the 4:30 a.m. Nov. 2 crash.
His blood-alcohol level was 0.08 percent, which is the legal limit to drive in Washington.
Print
Email Story
