Wednesday, January 6, 2010

DUI leads to prison

Man gets 8 years for 6th DUI


By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Benito Aguayo Diaz

A 41-year-old Hailey man was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison for his sixth DUI conviction.

Sentence was pronounced in Blaine County 5th District Court for Benito Aguayo Diaz, who court records state is in the United States illegally. Judge Robert J. Elgee ordered that Diaz spend at least three years in prison before parole eligibility.

Diaz pleaded guilty to felony DUI last November.

According to testimony during sentencing, Diaz has been deported four times previously and will be deported again once released from custody. He may also be charged with a federal crime of felony re-entry.

Diaz remained in the Blaine County jail on Tuesday, awaiting pickup by the Idaho Department of Correction. He had been incarcerated on $50,000 bond since his arrest by the Blaine County Sheriff's Office on Sept. 3.

According to Idaho court records, Diaz has been arrested seven times in the state on DUI charges and convicted six times. The last four convictions were felonies. Idaho law provides that a person can be charged with felony DUI if he or she has two prior DUI convictions within the last 10 years.

He was convicted twice in Blaine County in 1993 for misdemeanor DUI and was placed on probation both times.

Diaz was convicted of felony DUI in Blaine County in 1996 and sentenced to four months in jail. He was placed on probation in 2001 for another felony DUI conviction.

Diaz was convicted of a third felony DUI in Twin Falls County in 2005 and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. According to court records, he was released on parole in 2006.

Also in court on Monday was Rolf T. Watness, a 57-year-old Elkhorn man who pleaded guilty to a third felony DUI charge.

According to court records, Watness has three prior DUI convictions in Blaine County, a misdemeanor conviction in 1992 and felony convictions in 1995 and 2003. He was placed on probation in 1993 and 1995 and sentenced to 241 days in jail in 2003.

His latest DUI arrest was in Hailey on Aug. 17, 2009. He has remained incarcerated on $25,000 bond in the Blaine County jail since then.

At Monday's change-of-plea hearing, public defender Christopher Simms said a plea agreement is being worked out with the Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney's Office under which his client would not be recommend for a prison sentence.

Sentencing was set for Feb. 22.

Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com




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