SOUTH BEND -- Of the 10 criminal defendants who came before St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jerome Frese one morning last week, 54-year-old Kevin Deming drew the judge's greatest ire.
Deming was in court to be sentenced on his seventh drunken-driving offense.
"Your record on DUIs is just atrocious," Frese said. "It's guys like you that kill people."
Deming replied, "I don't want to be one of them."
But despite the judge's frustration, and recent public scrutiny on DUI sentences, Frese ordered Deming to spend just 10 days in jail -- the minimum required by law -- and about two years on electronically monitored house arrest.Frese also suspended Deming's driving privileges for two years.
"Just don't screw it up," Frese told him. "Don't be back in front of me."
Chronic offenders
When Shawn Devine crashed into Cpl. James Szuba's police car last January, killing the Mishawaka officer and his police dog, Devine was drunk, driving without a license and carrying a record of three DUI offenses.
Court documents later showed Devine had only served a handful of weekends in jail for his DUIs and benefited from dismissals.But records show that Devine's driving record pales beside Deming's.
Deming was charged with drunken driving in 1983, 1986, 1994, 1995, 2005, 2009 and most recently, in July 2010, for which he was sentenced Wednesday.
His driver's license has been suspended 18 times, often for three- or six-month periods. In 1998, he received a 10-year suspension for being a habitual traffic violator, according to a report from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
But even without a license, he drove drunk in 2005 and was arrested. His six-month jail sentence was suspended, however, meaning he did not actually have to go to jail, according to court records.
By 2008, he was issued a valid four-year driver's license, according to BMV records.
Close calls
Though records do not indicate Deming has ever seriously injured someone while driving drunk, he has had at least two close calls since receiving his new license.He crashed into Perkins Restaurant on Indiana 933 in March 2009 after driving with a blood-alcohol content more than twice the legal limit. Police also found marijuana in his pants pocket, according to court records.
Deming was ordered to serve 14 days in jail over seven weekends for the offense, and his driver's license was suspended for six months.
Last summer, Deming was again driving drunk, this time while barreling down South Bend's Blaine Avenue on a summer evening, according to records.
Deming crashed into a parked sport utility vehicle but kept driving despite his airbag being deployed and extensive damage to his car, according to a police report. Police later found Deming at his home and arrested him.
He was booked into the St. Joseph County Jail that night and bonded out six days later, records show.
Sentencing
Deming's sentence from Frese last week was a three-year sentence with one year suspended.
Frese ordered Deming to serve the first 91 days of his two-year community corrections sentence at the Forensic Diversion Program in Lake County, which serves habitual offenders with chemical dependencies.
Deming will serve the rest of his sentence in Ducomb Center's home detention program, which will require him to live at home and wear an ankle monitor that will track his location.
Ducomb Center can enhance supervision if necessary, Frese said.Frese's sentence is the most severe Deming has received since his 10-year suspension in 1998, but Deming knew he could have faced much worse.
After Wednesday's sentencing, he told his longtime friend, who was seated in the gallery, that he was thankful for the judge's sentence.
"He knew it could have been much worse," said the friend, Mike, who asked that his last name not be used to avoid being publicly associated with Deming.
Deming has not had a drink since July, Mike said. He said Deming is now "on the straight and narrow."
"I think this will stick this time," Mike said.
Staff writer Mary Kate Malone: mmalone@sbtinfo.com 574-235-6337
