Leavenworth County man sentenced in 17th DUI case
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| Stephen S. Gast Jr. |
Wednesday, a judge gave Stephen Sylvester Gast, Jr. his 17th sentence, which came with a one-year jail sentence. That’s the maximum one can face for driving under the influence, regardless of previous charges or one’s blood alcohol content.
FOX 4’s Megan Dillard caught up with Gast as soon as his sentence was announced.
“When they changed the laws in 2000, I already had too many to speak of and then they changed laws, that was the end of that, okay,” said Gast.
Gast’s defense attorney, Debra Snyder, couldn’t confirm how many times Gast has gone to jail or whether he had a valid driver license during his September arrest on a rural county road. If he did, having it revoked is another part of the law.
Snyder said, “There are also administrative penalties regarding driver licenses on DUIs and chemical failures for blood alcohol content.”
Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said, “It’s a very scary thing. I absolutely think there needs to be a harsher penalty, especially when they get up to numbers like this. We’re regularly seeing people with ten or more, which is very concerning.”
The prosecutor says this year in Leavenworth County, there have been half a dozen fatal accidents that involve drinking and driving.
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