FARMINGTON - A 12-time convicted drunken driver on Tuesday attempted to take back his no-contest Alford plea to aggravated drunken driving after learning the judge was going to sentence him to the maximum.
He said he would rather take his chances at trial.
Anthony Chee, 38, was arrested Oct. 16 for drinking and driving after police witnessed him swerving and driving slowly on 18th Street in Farmington.
His blood-alcohol content at the time registered a .21, almost three times the legal limit of .08, according to court records.
Police also discovered that Chee was out on parole for a drunken driving conviction in 2010, and this arrest was his 12th drinking and driving offense.
He was charged with third-degree felony drunken driving, misdemeanor open container and misdemeanor driving on a suspended or revoked license.
"I intend not to run anything concurrent," District Judge Sandra Price said in court Tuesday. "My impression here is that you have too many DUIs. You truly are a risk to the community."
Chee's only benefit in agreeing to the plea, besides the open container charge being dismissed, was that all the time he faced in prison would run together. The district attorney's office in the agreement did not oppose running the sentences together.
The third-degree felony carries a mandatory three years in prison, and the misdemeanor carries up to one year in prison.
Chee also owed about 19 months in prison for violating his parole on his previous drunken driving conviction.
"With that many DUIs and the fact you are on parole for a DUI and getting a DUI, justifies every day in prison I can give you," Price said.
Price sentenced him to four years in prison in addition to the time he owed for violating his parole.
An Alford plea means that a defendant does not admit guilt, but rather that the prosecution has enough evidence that likely would result in a conviction beyond reasonable doubt.
Chee, as part of the plea, agreed that he would not contest the state's evidencae.
Despite that, however, he told Price that he did not admit to drinking and driving, and that on the night of the incident, he was in a vehicle on the side of the road smoking a cigarette.
Price denied Chee's attempt to revoke his agreement with the state. She did, upon Chee's request, agree to later consider modifying the sentence if Chee completed a 15-month therapeutic community program.
This wasn't the first time Chee was in front of Price, or the first time he asked for his prison term to be combined to shorten the time.
In January 2010, Price sentenced Chee to three years for drunken driving and one year for driving on a suspended or revoked license. In July of that year, she amended the judgment and sentence to allow it to run concurrent with a parole violation for a previous DWI charge.
Chee's drunken driving history stems back to 1992, where he had two offenses. He followed that with one in 1994, two in 1996 and one each in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2010 and this one in 2011.
Tuesday's sentencing falls on the heels of another double-digit drunken driver who was convicted by a jury Thursday.
Emery Bradley had 11 prior drunken driving convictions before he was arrested again in January 2011.
Police charged him with third-degree felony drunken driving, misdemeanor open container and misdemeanor driving on a suspended or revoked license. He was convicted on all counts and District Judge Thomas Hynes sentenced him to a day short of four years, the maximum allowed by law, Chief Deputy District Attorney Dustin O'Brien said.
Bradley's 11 previous drunken driving offenses dated from 1983 to 2001. The January incident marked his 12th offense.
All of the incidents occurred in New Mexico.
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