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Woman Gets 3-Year Sentence After 8th DUI Arrest

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By Josh Poltilove, The Tampa Tribune, and Samara Sodos, News Channel 8

Published: October 29, 2007

TAMPA - Kelly Jean Moffitt, who has been pulled over by police and arrested for driving under the influence eight times, was convicted this month on her most recent charge.

As part of a plea agreement, she never will be allowed to own a vehicle or have a driver's license, her lawyer said today.

She was sentenced to three years in a Florida state prison, to be followed by two years in a residential alcohol treatment facility and five years probation, said her lawyer, Daniel Fernandez.

Moffitt, sentenced Oct. 18, was arrested by Tampa police in May.

She was pulled over minutes after attending a panel where offenders are required to listen to victims talk about how people driving under the influence have affected their lives.

"She certainly got a serious sentence," Fernandez said. "It will be tough for her to comply. This is her one last chance to get help."

Fernandez said Moffitt, 30, suffers from liver disease and needs alcohol treatment. Moffitt has been drinking since she was 13 and has gone through "horrendous withdrawal" behind bars, he said.

"She made for a pitiful case," he said.

Moffitt remains in an Orange County jail, awaiting a hearing on a violation of probation case. A hearing is set for Nov. 20.

When Moffitt was pulled over in May for not having her headlights on, she smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech and glassy eyes, according to an arrest report. She later claimed she hadn't consumed alcohol for about 17 hours.

Two members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving's Hillsborough County chapter said they spoke to Moffitt at a panel less than 10 minutes before she was pulled over. Linda Unfried, the chapter's co-founder, said Moffitt cried hysterically during the panel while listening to a story of how a drunken teenager claimed the life of Unfried's sister.

Unfried later visited Moffitt in jail and saw her go through withdrawal. Unfried said she hopes Moffitt will discuss her experiences one day as a member of a panel.

"She's very young, but she has accepted responsibility and is ready to move on with her life and become a productive citizen," Unfried said. "It was a very fair sentence."

Moffitt has been convicted of DUI six times but has never caused serious injury as a result her drunken driving, Fernandez said.

Her eight DUI charges don't include her 1996 arrest for public intoxication on an airplane and making a terrorist threat on an airplane.

In May, Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said it's rare but not unheard of to find people with eight or more DUI arrests. Officers recalled one person who had about twice as many.

In December 2001, Moffitt told a judge she had been through an alcohol treatment program and was planning to turn her life around. The treatment had changed her outlook on life, she said.

"I realized that I was smiling," Moffitt told the judge. "I was laughing for the first time in a really, really long time. I was actually feeling what it was like to be proud of myself and be happy and not have to fake it. … I know that God had faith in me and took care of me when I couldn't take care of myself; but now that I know better, I feel it's my responsibility to take care of myself and make sure I don't put other people's lives in danger again."

Moffitt's brother Eddie died of cancer in 2004. Fernandez said Moffitt has had trouble dealing with her brother's death.

In June 2006, she was arrested for DUI for the seventh time. She pleaded no contest and was adjudicated guilty in that Orange County case and was sentenced to one year of supervised probation and DUI school. She had her license revoked for a year and was not allowed to possess or consume alcohol.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691. Reporter Samara Sodos can be reached at slsodos@wfla.com or (813) 314-5379.

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