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An Idaho man who was charged with driving 132 mph while drunk in Grand Teton National Park was sentenced to 90 days in jail on Tuesday by a U.S. District Court judge.
Jessie Perry, who was originally charged with 10 different violations, pleaded guilty during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Michael Shickich to driving under the influence of intoxicants and was found guilty of fleeing and attempting to elude the police.
As eight of the charges were dropped and Perry pleading guilty to the DUI charge under a prior agreement, the only issue at the trial on Tuesday was the fleeing or attempting-to-elude police officers charge.
The prosecuting attorney recommended Perry receive a 45-day jail sentence, but the judge doubled it and sternly chastised the defendant for his actions.
“The defendant failed to take meaningful responsibility for his behavior,” Shickich said, according to the Jackson Hole News & Guide. “This person started drinking early in the morning, made the affirmative decision to drive on public highways and drive at an incredible speed. It’s beyond belief he didn’t see officers and an incredibly inappropriate form of driving.”
Former Wyoming Attorney General Gay Woodhouse told Cowboy State Daily that although a 90-day jail sentence may appear light, it is “still a significant length of time.”
“He could lose his job and he might be unable to care for his family,” Woodhouse said on Wednesday afternoon. “Hopefully this is a wake-up call for him and hopefully he will get alcohol treatment to change his life.”
Perry reportedly had a blood-alcohol level of 0.209% when arrested. He was driving a 2015 Dodge pickup truck.
Both Shickich and Woodhouse said that the outcome of Perry’s behavior could have been much worse.
“When you’re in jail think about what a gift is is that no one died,” the judge said during sentencing.
Woodhouse concurred.
“He’s lucky he’s alive and he’s lucky he didn’t kill anyone else,” she said. “Within 1/100th of a second, he could have changed other peoples’ lives, not to mention his own, forever.”
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