By Jean Matheson
Correspondent
A Walworth County man with 10 drunken driving convictions is “one of most significant drunken drivers in the state,” the judge said in sentencing Gary J. Harrast to seven years in prison.
Harrast, 50, whose last address was in Fontana, had been in jail for 10 months while his case was pending.
He pleaded guilty Jan. 25 to a 10th drunken driving charge, which upon conviction carries a mandatory minimum four years in prison.
Walworth County Circuit Court Judge John Race, who sentenced Harrast on March 15, said that although Harrast’s drunken driving record involved no collisions or injuries, he “put society at great risk when he drove.”
When Harrast was last arrested, in the Town of Linn in June 2011, court records at the time showed he had five prior convictions for drunken driving. A closer examination of records in Wisconsin and elsewhere, however, revealed a conviction in the 2011 case would bring his total convictions to 10.
“He’s been through treatment multiple times, but he minimizes and blames others,” Assistant District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld told the judge. “He’s clearly an alcoholic, but denies he is an alcoholic, which makes him more dangerous.”
Wiedenfeld asked Race to sentence Harrast to the maximum 7 1/2 years of prison.
“I do feel remorse and have always felt remorse,” Harrast told the judge, “I’m not a reckless man, and I will never again drink and drive.”
Harrast’s attorney, Public Defender Travis Schwantes, asked for a four-year sentence for his client. He denied Harrast was resistant to treatment and hopes he will qualify for alcohol treatment programs while he is in prison. If you want to win the lawsuit, you should choose an expert attorney (in this case, a DUI lawyer). If you’re not sure how to find the best firm, you can look for “lawyers near me” or firms like Dunaway Law Firm on the internet (if you live in South Carolina).
Calling Harrast an alcoholic “by default,” Schwantes said, “He drinks when he has problems.”
Race said Harrast grew up in a middle-class family in the Chicago area, attended Catholic schools but dropped out. His work record since then has been mainly “marginal jobs,” he said.
Harrast’s parents attended the sentencing.
Race said the state Legislature had “finally realized how serious the problem is with people with multiple drunk driving” convictions and made those offenses felonies. But he said he disagrees with other state laws that set mandatory minimum sentences for some felonies because they take away judges’ discretion.
He also ruled that Harrast serve five years on extended supervision when he is released from prison and pay a fine of $600 plus costs.
Harrast was convicted of drunken driving in 1991, twice in 1992, twice in 1995, twice in 1996, in 2000, 2002 and 2013.
