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My first instinct was, GOOD... finally. But then I thought about it and can't help but wonder if 13 years is over the top for a crowded prison system? I'm not sure. It's obvious he doesn't care or get the point. And even more obvious that he has a serious drinking problem.</p>
</p>
Thoughts?</p>
</p>
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">
Called by a prosecutor the "grim reaper to every driver on the road," a Round Lake Beach man was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison for his eighth DUI conviction.</p>
Timothy Morrow, 43, got his first DUI when he was 17, said Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Ben Dillon. Since then, Morrow has been cited nine more times with driving while intoxicated and twice with boating while under the influence, Dillon said. Four of those cases ended with not-guilty verdicts or with charges dropped or reduced, the prosecutor noted.</p>
"It defies logic that an individual that has been arrested for DUI 10 times continues to drink alcohol," Dillon said. "It is clear this defendant just doesn't get it and doesn't care."</p>
Morrow has been to prison twice — first in 1995 for DUI, then in 1996 for driving while his license was revoked, Dillon said.</p>
Out on bond in the latest case, Morrow was taken into custody after the hearing. He had asked for 30 days to get his affairs in order, but Circuit Judge Brian Hughes denied the request.</p>
Morrow, who told Hughes that he is a self-employed carpenter, was stopped in July 2011 by a Round Lake Beach police officer who said he had been weaving in the road, Dillon said. He was convicted in October of his eighth DUI, but a jury found him not guilty of several other charges, including fleeing and eluding an officer.</p>
At the time of his arrest, Morrow had been charged 10 days earlier in Fox Lake with public intoxication, Dillon said.</p>
Dillon asked Hughes for a 15-year prison sentence, calling Morrow an "absolute public safety risk."</p>
Defense attorney Mike Norris said Morrow had been subjected to intense probation for the past two years and had not violated it. He asked for six years in prison.</p>
"I think it will deter Mr. Morrow from doing other things," Norris said.</p>
Asked if he would like to make a statement, Morrow said he was "unprepared." Later, when Hughes was ready to hand down the sentence, Morrow asked if he could give a statement.</p>
Morrow told the court he had been abused as a child and said police hadn't taken his reports seriously.</p>
"I plead with the court," he said. "I have a 12-year-old son that I want to see grow up. I made a mistake and I apologize."</p>
Hughes said the statement provided insight into what "makes Timothy Morrow tick" but added there are many people in the world who have been abused who don't drink and drive.</p>
"You say you made a mistake," Hughes said. "You've made mistake after mistake after mistake, for 25 years. You are still somebody that keeps making the same mistake."</p>
Morrow did not react when Hughes imposed the sentence, which Dillon said was "very appropriate and reflects the seriousness of the repeat DUI offenses."</p>
</p>
</blockquote>
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/grayslake_gurnee_round_lake/chi-eighth-dui-round-lake-beach-20130501,0,5923489.story</p>
</p>
</p>
Thoughts?</p>
</p>
<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">
Called by a prosecutor the "grim reaper to every driver on the road," a Round Lake Beach man was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison for his eighth DUI conviction.</p>
Timothy Morrow, 43, got his first DUI when he was 17, said Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Ben Dillon. Since then, Morrow has been cited nine more times with driving while intoxicated and twice with boating while under the influence, Dillon said. Four of those cases ended with not-guilty verdicts or with charges dropped or reduced, the prosecutor noted.</p>
"It defies logic that an individual that has been arrested for DUI 10 times continues to drink alcohol," Dillon said. "It is clear this defendant just doesn't get it and doesn't care."</p>
Morrow has been to prison twice — first in 1995 for DUI, then in 1996 for driving while his license was revoked, Dillon said.</p>
Out on bond in the latest case, Morrow was taken into custody after the hearing. He had asked for 30 days to get his affairs in order, but Circuit Judge Brian Hughes denied the request.</p>
Morrow, who told Hughes that he is a self-employed carpenter, was stopped in July 2011 by a Round Lake Beach police officer who said he had been weaving in the road, Dillon said. He was convicted in October of his eighth DUI, but a jury found him not guilty of several other charges, including fleeing and eluding an officer.</p>
At the time of his arrest, Morrow had been charged 10 days earlier in Fox Lake with public intoxication, Dillon said.</p>
Dillon asked Hughes for a 15-year prison sentence, calling Morrow an "absolute public safety risk."</p>
Defense attorney Mike Norris said Morrow had been subjected to intense probation for the past two years and had not violated it. He asked for six years in prison.</p>
"I think it will deter Mr. Morrow from doing other things," Norris said.</p>
Asked if he would like to make a statement, Morrow said he was "unprepared." Later, when Hughes was ready to hand down the sentence, Morrow asked if he could give a statement.</p>
Morrow told the court he had been abused as a child and said police hadn't taken his reports seriously.</p>
"I plead with the court," he said. "I have a 12-year-old son that I want to see grow up. I made a mistake and I apologize."</p>
Hughes said the statement provided insight into what "makes Timothy Morrow tick" but added there are many people in the world who have been abused who don't drink and drive.</p>
"You say you made a mistake," Hughes said. "You've made mistake after mistake after mistake, for 25 years. You are still somebody that keeps making the same mistake."</p>
Morrow did not react when Hughes imposed the sentence, which Dillon said was "very appropriate and reflects the seriousness of the repeat DUI offenses."</p>
</p>
</blockquote>
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/grayslake_gurnee_round_lake/chi-eighth-dui-round-lake-beach-20130501,0,5923489.story</p>
</p>
