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Frankford man to serve six years in jail for repeated DUI

Patterson had 12 previous DUI convictions
December 22, 2016

A Frankford man will spend six years in prison after pleading guilty to DUI.

Michael Capasso, attorney for Charles Patterson, 52, asked for less than the minimum sentence, asking for treatment and home confinement. But Delaware Superior Court Judge T. Henley Graves said Patterson’s previous criminal history, which includes 12 prior DUI convictions, drug offenses and violent behavior deserved a harsher sentence.

“Your record, both criminal and driving, is horrible,” Graves said. He went on to describe Patterson as a ticking time bomb with a pattern of behavior that indicates he cannot stop drinking.

Capasso and Patterson both said a long jail sentence was not the answer as Patterson is in need of two lung transplants, with only 14 percent lung capacity brought on by asthma and smoking. Capasso questioned whether Patterson could last in jail and that his care would be expensive for the state to take on. Capasso said Patterson suffered from an abusive childhood and has been attempting to get clean.

Patterson said he started drinking again when he found out he needed a lung transplant and became depressed. Police said Patterson caused a traffic collision in Millsboro Aug. 29 when he crashed his red pickup into the back of another car stopped at an intersection on Mitchell Street. Police said a 6-year-old child was in the truck Patterson was driving, and Patterson showed signs of being drunk. No injuries resulted from the crash.

“Thank God I didn’t hurt anybody,” Patterson said at his sentencing. “I need help. I need help for my alcohol. I can do it.”

He urged Graves to allow him to enter long-term treatment for his addiction. His fiancee, Lynn Ambler, said, “I’m not sure jail is the answer. I think he needs help. He’s made bad choices; he’s not a bad person.”

Deputy attorney general Nichole Gannett said Patterson has always been sorry when he’s faced jail time, which he has done twice before. She said Patterson has had three DUIs in the last eight years and has not shown that he is ready to change his behavior.

Patterson was given the maximum sentence, 15 years in prison, suspended after six years where he will then serve a year of home confinement followed by probation. Graves said in the choice between getting Patterson off the roads and saving the state money on prison care, he was choosing public safety.  The seventh offense DUI is the highest designated charge in Delaware, so the range of 5 to 15 years in prison if convicted remains the same whether it is an eighth or 12th DUI.

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