A Kansas City, Kansas, man was sentenced to six months Friday in Leavenworth County District Court for his 10th DUI.
But Lloyd T. Henson, 58, will only have to serve three days in jail. He then will be eligible serve out the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.
Henson was sentenced to driving under the influence of alcohol, driving with a suspended license and having no proof of insurance.
The charges stemmed from a Sept. 29, 2011, traffic stop in Lansing.
Police had received a report of a possible drunken driver. An officer observed Henson driving about six inches left of the center line on U.S. 73-Kansas 7 Highway, according to a news release from County Attorney Todd Thompson.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Assistant County Attorney Adam Zentner recommended that Henson be sentenced to a year in jail.
“This is a public safety issue,” Zentner said.
He said someone may be killed if Henson doesn’t stop driving while intoxicated.
Henson’s attorney, Michael Willcott, requested a 90-day sentence with his client receiving credit for about 63 days he already spent in custody.
Willcott asked that his client be allowed to serve the remainder of the 90 days under house arrest.
Zentner said he was not opposed to work release for Henson, but the prosecutor expressed concern about house arrest.
Willcott said most of Henson’s previous DUI convictions had happened years ago, and the last one had been in 2005.
The attorney said Henson had been doing well until he had trouble with the business he operated.
When given the opportunity to speak, Henson said he “can do very well on house arrest.”
“I will go to treatment,” he said. “I will do whatever I need to do.”
District Judge Gunnar Sundby sentenced Henson to a year in jail but suspended all but six months of the sentence.
He ordered Henson to surrender to the Leavenworth County Jail Feb. 27 to begin serving his sentence.
After 72 hours, Henson will be eligible for house arrest. Sundby said Henson will be required to use an alcohol monitoring device while on house arrest.
Sundby said the defendant also will get credit for the 63 days he previously spent in custody in the case.
Sundby also sentenced Henson to 60 days in jail for each of the two remaining charges. The judge gave Henson credit for time already served for each of these two charges, so the defendant will not have to serve any additional jail time.
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