MOUNT VERNON — Municipal Court Judge Paul Spurgeon sentenced a Mount Vernon woman on Tuesday to 30 days in jail for her first conviction of operating a vehicle under the influence. In Knox County, the vast majority of first time offenders are ordered to attend a driver intervention program in lieu of a mandatory three-day jail sentence, according to court records.
Stephanie L. Sprang, 38, was found guilty following a two-day jury trial in November. The jury deliberated for three hours before reaching the verdict.
Phillip Lehmkuhl, Sprang’s attorney, said the 30-day sentence imposed on her was astonishingly severe. “I know guys who’ve been in bar fights that have done less time than that,” Lehmkuhl told the News.
The same day that Sprang was sentenced to 30 days in jail, Spurgeon ruled on three other OVI cases. The three defendants in those cases were all first-time offenders and all three pleaded guilty to the charges. One person received three days in jail and the other two received no jail sentence at all.
According to Spurgeon, assistant prosecuting attorney John Aebi, who represented the state in the Sprang case, made no recommendation on sentencing.
Asked why Sprang was sentenced more severely than those convicted of the same crime, Spurgeon said that he “knew more about this case.”
“I usually don’t get to see the evidence or hear testimony ... just the police report,” said Spurgeon. “Without any of that [testimony] I give the defendant the benefit of the doubt [regarding sentencing].”
According to court records, 15 people pleaded guilty to their first OVI offense in the past month, none of which received any jail time. In the same time frame, three people pleaded guilty to their second OVI offense, all of which received 20 days or less in jail.
Court records also show that the only person in the past month who received a 30-day sentence for drunk driving was not only charged with OVI but leaving the scene of an accident, failure to comply with the order of a police officer, driving under suspension, speeding and squealing tires.
Another man, convicted in December of his fourth OVI in the last three years (his fifth lifetime OVI conviction) also received only 20 days in jail. The same man also has previous convictions of carrying a concealed weapon, possession of cocaine, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, criminal trespassing and persistent disorderly conduct.
“The 30 days sentence is 10 times as long as the normal sentence for a first offense OVI,” said Lehmkuhl. “I worry that such a sentence disparity will discourage people from using their constitutional right to a trial.”
Regarding Sprang’s 30-day sentence, Spurgeon said, “she should have been home with her kids and not out drinking. The law says I can sentence her to 180 days. [She was] threatening the lives of the citizens of this county.”
Spurgeon also said he took other factors into consideration. “[Sprang] wasn’t remorseful, she attended no counseling, she took no positive steps to rehabilitate herself. No AA meetings. I heard nothing [regarding her rehabilitation].”
Lehmkuhl said, “My client is a single mother of three children who financially supports them almost exclusively and lives paycheck to paycheck. I worry that in 30 days when she gets out of jail she will have lost her job, lost her apartment and will be homeless with three young children.”
Phone calls to assistant prosecutor John Aebi were unreturned.
