By Shereen Siewert
An Athens man who crashed his vehicle in March while under the influence was given a withheld sentence this month for his sixth drunken driving conviction and will spend five years on probation.
Guy Belanger called the crash in shortly before 4 a.m. on March 23, summoning police to the crash site on Hwy. A near 10th Lane in the town of Hamburg, according to the police report.
According to court documents, when police told Belanger he was under arrest, he responded by saying, “Well, no shit, huh?”
Belanger told police he had been “someplace he shouldn’t have been” and had consumed too much alcohol, the police report states. Officers say they discovered an open case of beer and what appeared to be a mixed drink in the vehicle.
Last week, Circuit Judge Suzanne O’Neill ordered the withheld sentence, which means Belanger was placed on probation. If Belanger is not successful on probation, he can be returned to the court and be sentenced to the maximum penalty for the crime. Both a fifth- and sixth-offense OWI conviction has a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
Belanger will also be required to serve one year in the Marathon County Jail and pay a fine of $2,452. His driver’s license will be revoked for three years. Court records show Belanger was convicted in 2010 of his fifth drunken driving charge. He also had a drug conviction in 2015.
