Prosecutor: 'History says he will drink and drive again.'
Dean Tuszynski talks to Judge Anthony Aloi today during his sentencing hearing in Onondaga County Court. On the left is defense attorney Anthony Belletier.
Syracuse, NY - A Salina man with one of the worst drunken-driving records in Onondaga County is back in custody today. But only briefly.
Onondaga County Judge Anthony Aloi this morning sentenced Dean Tuszynski to serve 1 1/3 to four years in state prison for a series of three DWI charges stemming from the same driving incident in October 2005.
Tuszynski, now 50, originally was sentenced in 2006 to serve two consecutive penalties of 1 1/3 to four years in prison. He had served almost four years of that sentence when a state appeals court ruled in December 2008 that the consecutive penalties were illegal and that Tuszynski faced only a maximum of 1 1/3 to four years in prison because the charges all grew out of one continuous incident.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bednarski today urged Aloi to resentence Tuszynski to serve up to life in prison as a persisent felony offender based on his record. The prosecutor noted Tuszynski had seven prior DWI convictions before the 2005 case arose.
Aloi rejected the prosecution request.
Defense lawyer Anthony Belletier then asked Aloi to sentence Tuszynski to "time served" for the almost four years already spend in prison in the case. Aloi rejected that request as well, noting he promised Tuszynski a sentence of 1 1/3 to four years when Tuszynski recently pleaded guilty again in the matter.
But the sentence imposed today meant Tuszynski had to be taken back into custody to be sent off to state prison in order to be re-released.
Belletier said he thought Tuszynski would end up in prison for only a couple of weeks before being released on parole for only a couple of months before the case was closed out for good.
"History says he will drink and drive again," Bednarski said of Tuszynski, arguing he did not think prison had done anything to rehabilitate the defendant. He said Tuszynski had earned a life sentence and a persistent felon designation.
But Aloi said he didn't think a life sentence for a Class E felony that carries a maximum penalty of up to four years in prison was appropriate. He again said state lawmakers should do something to upgrade the penalties in such repeat DWI offender cases.
Aloi also reminded the prosecutor that a federal appeals court recently declared New York State's persistent felony offender law unconstitutional.
The judge said Tuszynski had already served nearly the maximum penalty the state appellate court deemed was the most time he could serve for the two fender benders. Aloi also noted Tuszynski had received "excellent" ratings in prison for attending substance abuse programs and obtaining occupational training in an environmental program.
Belletier noted Tuszynski has been out of prison about a year and had not gotten into any further trouble while the case was pending after the appeal issue arose.
The defense lawyer also handed over to Bednarski in court letters of apology Aloi had ordered Tuszynski to write to the victims of the fender-bender collisions.
"He's not the same person you originally sentenced years ago," Belletier said of his client.
Aloi asked Tuszynski how he had changed.
Tuszynski said he had been arrogant in the past and didn't have any respect for the law. He also said he drank when he got angry and thought he was able to drive OK when that happened.
The defendant said he no longer suffers from those same perceptions.