Former prosecutor avoids jail for 2nd DUI

TAMPA -- Former Pinellas-Pasco prosecutor Lydia Wardell avoided jail time this week for her second DUI arrest.

Wardell, arrested in July, pleaded no contest and put her sentencing fate in the hands of Hillsborough County Judge Lawrence Lefler. Prosecutors sought at least a 30-day jail sentence. State law calls for a mandatory 10 days in jail if someone is arrested twice for DUI within five years, as Wardell was.

However, the judge had the discretion to count residential treatment time as jail time, said Assistant State Attorney Douglas Covington. Lefler did just that, sentencing Wardell to the 111 days of residential treatment that she has already completed.

The judge also sentenced Wardell, 41, to eight months of probation. For 90 days, she must wear a device that will alert authorities if she consumes alcohol, Covington said.

Wardell's license is suspended for five years. She must pay a $1,000 fine and perform 50 hours of community service.

Wardell received 18 months of probation in 2005 after she was arrested for driving drunk with her two young sons in the car. Prior to that arrest, Wardell was known for her aggressive prosecution of DUI and other cases in misdemeanor court in Pinellas County. She resigned from the State Attorney's Office after her second arrest.

Colleen Jenkins, Times staff writer

Comments

[boundfornews]

where is the fairness in the judicial system?
If law states 10 days EVERYONE should get that.
Even if just for the safety of her own children for those 10 days!

[redeemed64]

Just the headline sets me off. This outcome was anticipated by me when I first read of the arrest record. If it works in self regulatory and investigating agencies like any other government department, especially like the police, what else could be expected? She’s an attorney of course and the Judge that let her off is nothing but a glorified attorney. It’s an unwritten law with positions like this that “I will protect you and keep you from any punishment that should be meted out and you do the same for me, if and when I get caught.” Even though I’m not surprised I am certainly offended every time a malfeasance like this occurs.