Las Cruces man pleads guilty to sixth DWI
Santa Fe judge: 52-year-old must wear ankle bracelet during treatment program
A Santa Fe judge on Monday ordered a Las Cruces man to wear an ankle monitor while he completes a six-month residential substanceabuse treatment program, and for three months afterward, as a result of his guilty plea to his sixth DWI charge.
Jacob P. Salazar, 52, reached the plea deal in April but was sent to prison for a 60-day evaluation before the judge pronounced his sentence, which also requires Salazar to serve five years on supervised probation after the electronic monitoring bracelet comes off.
State District Judge T. Glenn Ellington told Salazar he ordered the 60-day evaluation to give Salazar a taste of what his life will be like if he ignores the court’s orders and is sent to prison for continuing to drive drunk.
Salazar’s plea stemmed from an aggravated DWI charge he picked up in Santa Fe County when he was caught driving with a blood alcohol level above 0.16 — or more than twice the level of presumed intoxication in New Mexico — according to court documents, which didn’t list the exact alcohol reading at the time of his arrest.
Salazar has had five other drunken-driving convictions since 1994, according to his plea agreement, including two in San Miguel County, one in Sierra County, one in Chama, and one other in Santa Fe County.
“Did you think your drinking would ever end up with you going to the pen?” Ellington asked Salazar at Monday’s hearing.
Salazar replied that he has already lost a truck and a recreational vehicle to his habit.
Ellington told Salazar that it was not drinking that made the defendant a criminal in the eyes of the court so much as it was his choice to drive after drinking.
“If you sat home and crawled into the bottom of a bottle and committed suicide that way, that would be sad,” the judge said. “But it’s when you get in a car that you commit a crime.”
The judge added that Salazar should be prepared to continue his sobriety, if and when he completes The Salvation Army treatment program, by guarding against triggers such as hanging out with the same friends or even boredom.
“If the reason you drink is because you are bored, take up a hobby,” the judge advised.