12th OUI nets prison term

    HOULTON — Justice E. Allen Hunter in Aroostook County Superior Court sentenced a 56-year-old Weston man to six years in prison Wednesday.
    Milo Clifton White was convicted of criminal operating under the influence and operating after habitual offender revocation following a trial that was held on Nov 4 in the Maine Superior Court in Aroostook County. It was his 12th drunk driving offense.
    He was indicted for the offenses on Sept 9, 2010, and entered a plea of not guilty at his arraignment on Oct. 13, 2010. At trial Michael Carpenter of Houlton represented him while Assistant District Attorney Kurt Kafferlin represented the state.
    According to Kafferlin, White received a five-year sentence for the operating after habitual offender revocation and received a consecutive 364-day sentence for operating under the influence for a total of six years in prison. He was also fined $1,700.
    The case stemmed from an ATV accident in Weston on July 24, 2010, which was investigated by Benjamin Drew of the Maine Warden’s Service.
    “A witness saw the ATV roll over while it was traveling down the road in front of his house,” Kafferlin said. “The witness ran over and found the defendant, Milo Clifton White, whom he recognized as a nearby resident. Mr. White was injured and the witness called 9-1-1 and waited with him until an ambulance came to transport him to Houlton Regional Hospital.”
    Warden Drew responded to the hospital where he was able to speak with White after he had been treated, Kafferlin said. At that time, White admitted to having drunk approximately 12 beers and a blood sample indicated that he had a blood-alcohol content of 0.18 percent, nearly three hours after the accident.
    A check of White’s motor vehicle record showed that his license was revoked as a habitual offender and that he had 11 prior convictions for criminal OUI and eight prior convictions for operating after habitual offender revocation.
    “White testified at trial that the ATV was for sale by his landlord and that he did not drive the ATV,” Kafferlin said. “He testified that he was not driving, but rather riding with a person who was test-driving the ATV, but he did not know the person’s name or whereabouts. He testified further that the person leapt from the moving ATV and ran into the woods, causing the ATV with him on it to crash.”