2 aall da druionk drivvverrssszzzz****************************.....

Trial Delayed for Man with 11 DWI Convictions

Aug 26, 2002 1:29 pm US/Eastern
(1010 WINS)-MORRISTOWN, N.J. -- A judge
delayed the latest trial for a car salesman
with 11 past drunken driving convictions
so the man's attorney would have more
time to seek to negotiate a plea
agreement. The trial was scheduled to
open Monday.

Robert DeSantis, 48, of Wayne, is
accused of driving the wrong way on a
state highway, trying to elude police and
colliding with a minivan. The October 2000 crash on Route 23 in
Pequannock injured four people.

DeSantis has not held a valid New Jersey driver's license since 1993,
and will not be eligible for one until Sept. 22, 2083, according to the
state Division of Motor Vehicles.

That's assuming he pays more than $50,000 in fines.

His New York license was revoked for 90 days on April 25 due to the
New Jersey convictions, according to the New York State Division of
Motor Vehicles. He would have to reapply to have those privileges
reinstated.

Even if DeSantis secures an out-of-state driver's license, he is not
permitted to drive in New Jersey under any circumstances.

Criminal charges against DeSantis for the Pequannock crash include
aggravated assault, assault by auto and eluding police. He faces up
to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The case had been scheduled to go to trial Monday afternoon. But a
judge carried the trial date until Oct. 7, giving defense attorney Jay
V. Surgent time to reopen plea negotiations.

DeSantis previously rejected an offer of a seven-year prison term.

"We understand he has a multitude of violations," Surgent told The
Star-Ledger of Newark. "We're looking at it more as a disease."

DeSantis remains free on $125,000 bail. He no longer owns a car and
friends drive him to work, Surgent said.

DeSantis has been arrested for drunken driving four times since the
Pequannock crash. An East Rutherford municipal judge revoked his
$1,500 bail and issued an arrest warrant last week after DeSantis
skipped his sentencing on a DWI guilty plea for the second time.

Charges also are pending in Elizabeth, Fort Lee and Parsippany.

DeSantis has been hit with fines and suspensions, but has never
spent more than a couple of months in county jail for a conviction.

"It's outrageous that someone with a string of violations is able to
get behind the wheel of a car," said Richard Helmbrecht, president of
the Bogota-based End DWI organization. "Unless the courts land on
someone like this, they're going to go out and do it again."

(© 2002 Viacom Internet Services Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press
contributed to this report.)

Wow, nobody can wait until 2083 to get a license back. We all be dead by then.