A man was sentenced to 27 days behind bars after he was found guilty of a felony DUI offense. The sentence was pronounced by the 5th District Court in Blaine County on February 8.
According to the details shared by the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office, the man who received the punishment was identified as Justin James Rumpeltes, 48, of Hailey. Rumpeltes was convicted in connection with a felony DUI offense which he committed on September 12 last year. He was traveling along Highway 75 close to the Serenade Lane in Ketchum at the time. According to the deputy who arrested Rumpeltes, he was unable to maintain his lane.
For his erratic driving, Deputy Garret Ruckle stopped Rumpeltes. Once the deputy observed that Rumpeltes was likely drunk, he was asked to submit a breath sample. However, Rumpeltes refused upon which the deputies had to seek a warrant and draw blood for alcohol testing.
It isn’t clear whether the blood test revealed the presence of alcohol in his blood. The deputies did find open containers of alcohol in his vehicle.
Based on the evidence, the charges of felony DUI and misdemeanor possession of an open container of alcohol were brought against him. The DUI charge was a felony because Rumpeltes has previous DUI convictions on his record. One of these convictions dates back to 2014 while the other was in 2017. Since this is Rumpeltes’ third DUI offense, it is regarded as a felony.
Rumpeltes struck a deal with the prosecution and agreed to plead guilty for the dismissal of the misdemeanor possession of open container charge. The penalty for the felony DUI charge was pronounced by the court as 27 days behind bars as well as a $3,000 fine. Rumpeltes is also required to undergo three years of probation after his prison sentence ends.
Contact our Boise DUI attorneys today.
Source: https://www.mtexpress.com/news/cops_courts/hailey-man-sentenced-to-jail-for-dui/article_1d9a3430-6cc6-11eb-a4b9-0be7e29a6f05.html