Judge gives max penalty of 9th drunk driving incident

A Superior man found guilty of driving drunk for the ninth time was sentenced in Douglas County Circuit Court to the maximum penalty — 10 years in prison.

In September, a jury found David Fredrick McMeekin, 41, guilty of a ninth offense of operating while intoxicated in a February incident where he was involved in a hit-and-run crash in Superior. His blood alcohol concentration at the time of the accident was 0.306 — nearly four times the legal limit.

At a sentencing hearing Thursday, McMeekin’s attorney, Chris Gramstrup, argued for a six-year sentence, the minimum allowed based on the number of intoxicated driving arrests and the elevated blood alcohol concentration.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Fruehauf argued for the maximum, which was handed down by Judge George Glonek.

The 10-year sentence includes five years of initial confinement and five years of extended supervision.

Conditions of McMeekin’s supervision includes he maintain absolute sobriety and pay felony court costs; a 36-month driver’s license revocation and installation of an ignition interlock were ordered.

McMeekin must also undergo mental health and chemical dependency evaluations and follow any recommendations, provide a DNA sample and pay restitution of $1,249 to one victim and an amount to-be-determined to the other victim.

McMeekin also pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of hit and run-attended vehicle. Glonek sentenced him to six months jail concurrent to the prison sentence.

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