Another suspended sentence for 4th DUI

A Eureka man charged with his fourth offense of drunk driving has received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to a reduced misdemeanor count of the charge.

Joshua Degeal, 34, entered an Alford plea to the charge July 11 in Flathead District Court, where Judge Robert Allison handed down a six-month suspended sentence. The Alford plea allowed Degeal to accept conviction while continuing to claim innocence.

A Columbia Falls man, Rodney Hoerner, received a similar one-year suspended sentence for a fourth DUI last week.

Degeal was arrested after being seen driving erratically through the scene of a crash. When a Montana Highway Patrol trooper caught up with Degeal, he saw him drift over the fog line twice. Degeal then admitted he had been drinking and failed field sobriety tests during a traffic stop.

Due to Degeal’s refusal to take a breath alcohol test or provide a blood sample, due to the time necessary to obtain a telephonic search warrant to take the blood and due to several other crashes that evening, the trooper was unable to obtain a search warrant.

In addition to the suspended sentence, Allison ordered Degeal to complete a chemical dependency evaluation and any treatment recommended by the evaluation, as well as to pay a $450 fine, a $150 public defender fee, and a $75 surcharge.