The Abington Miracle: How a Man with a DUI Suspension Avoided Jailtime and Saved His License
At the Logue Law Group, we recently handled a case where our client was held for driving under a DUI suspension. Now, during his second time, he was held by the cops and charged with driving while his license was suspended due to a prior offense.
Such types of offenses can get very serious in Pennsylvania. It carries mandatory imprisonment. Added to that, such cases also call for an extended license suspension.
Now, for a professional who drives for a living, this seemed like the end of our client’s career. However, what the man did right was hiring our Pittsburgh DUI attorneys, who miraculously turned the whole case in our client’s favor!
Charges for Driving Under a DUI Suspension
Driving under a DUI suspension is a serious offense in Pennsylvania. The law is designed to severely penalize repeat or related driving offenses. Specifically, Pennsylvania Vehicle Code 1543(b) states that such violations carry mandatory jail time.
A first offense under this section results in a minimum of 60 to 90 days in jail. Subsequent violations can lead to even longer mandatory terms. Apart from that, a conviction in a second DUI offense also brings an additional, mandatory one-year suspension of driving privileges. This new suspension stacks on top of any existing one!
Now, as you can see, this can trap a person in a never-ending cycle of severe legal consequences. Also, if you face such charges, it is almost equal to experiencing jail time. Not just that, but you can also face suspension of your driving privileges. That is why having an experienced Pittsburgh DUI attorney becomes essential.
The Miracle We Did
Our client faced a mandatory imprisonment sentence. Added to that, he also faced an additional one-year suspension of his driving license. Now, as this was his profession, and he was the sole bread-winner in his family, he could not have afforded such a devastating consequence.
So, after he called us, our Pittsburgh DUI attorneys immediately went into action. We knew that the usual plea bargaining wouldn’t be enough. We needed to approach this with a bit more creativity.
We began our investigation of the entire case history and found a critical administrative error in how PennDOT handled his previous license status! This discovery was the basis of our strategy. Our Pittsburgh DUI attorneys focused on the legal technicalities of his prior suspension and argued that the initial notice of suspension was flawed.
This surprising revelation proved that our client did not have proper legal notice of his suspension status at the time of the arrest. The argument fundamentally undermined the case and transformed a mandatory minimum sentence into a negotiable situation.
After intense negotiations with the District Attorney’s Office, we reached a favorable conclusion. The court ultimately agreed to reinstate our client’s driving privileges! Besides that, the good news was that our client successfully avoided the mandatory jail time. What he received instead was a sentence of probation and a monetary fine. This outcome saved his livelihood, as well as his freedom!
This case once again proved how critical the role of an expert Pittsburgh DUI attorney is. So, if you have been charged with DUI, don’t just assume that you lost all hope. Instead, call us at the Logue Law Group at 844.PITT.DUI and hire our experts today.