TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

MADD Has Hope For Drunken Driver

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOSH POLTILOVE and SAMARA SODOS, The Tampa Tribune News Channel 8

Published: October 30, 2007

TAMPA - Kelly Jean Moffitt had just finished listening to victims of those driving under the influence talk about their pain when she was pulled over for drunken driving.

It was her eighth arrest for driving under the influence.

Earlier this month, Moffitt was sentenced to three years in prison for her latest charge. She also must surrender her license forever and can never own a car.

But Mothers Against Drunk Driving thinks she can be of value to society.

'She's very young, but she has accepted responsibility and is ready to move on with her life and become a productive citizen,' said Linda Unfried, co-founder of MADD's Hillsborough County Chapter. 'It was a very fair sentence.'
Moffitt 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 attorney, Daniel Fernandez.

He said she could have faced a maximum of 12 years behind bars for the charges, which included habitually driving with a suspended license, refusing to submit to a blood test and giving a false name to law enforcement.

'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.'

During her probation, Moffitt also must attend three victim impact panels, complete 100 community service hours, attend three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a week and receive psychiatric evaluation and treatment, said Pam Bondi, a spokeswoman with the state attorney's office.

Bondi said the Oct. 18 sentence was fair.

'You've got to know it's important not to just send an offender to prison,' she said. 'You have to structure a sentence with treatment, because you do everything in your power to keep them from re-offending. If you just send someone to prison, you're not going to get the treatment you need in prison.'

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.
Moffitt Had Been At MADD Meeting

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

Two members of MADD's Hillsborough County chapter said they spoke to Moffitt at a mandatory victim impact panel less than 10 minutes before she was pulled over. Unfried 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.
Moffitt has been convicted of DUI six times, but has never caused serious injury as a result of 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 his 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.

A judge sentenced her to probation in that case, because the county's records only showed two of the prior convictions, according to Orange County court records.

The assistant state attorney who filed charges is no longer with the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office, the office's spokeswoman said in May.

'I Think Finally She Has Help'

Before Moffitt's plea this month in Tampa, her friends and family wrote letters asking the judge for leniency.

Her mother begged for mercy, saying Moffitt is an ill young woman who needs help. A family friend, meanwhile, said Moffitt has made serious mistakes but proper treatment would allow for a new beginning.

'Kelly is a very intelligent, caring, loving person who has so very much potential,' wrote Deanna Richter. 'Kelly is a special young lady that needs help and has tried over and over again to obtain it. However she has been failed numerous times. No one has listened to her cries for help. Kelly needs someone for once in her life to hear her cries for help.'

Moffitt, who had a difficult childhood and faced a family history of alcoholism, sought treatment before but was denied it because she didn't have insurance, Richter said Monday.
Moffitt received a visit from her mother and Richter's mother Sunday, and 'she's hanging in there,' Richter said. 'She's a very, very sweet person. And she needs help. And I think finally she has help and the different means available to her.'

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.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT