25 years is significant but it's not enough. The monster had two
priors and should be locked up forever. Drunk drivers never stop.

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/EastVolusia/evlEAST0604
0406.htm

April 04, 2006

Drunken driver gets 25 years

By JAY STAPLETON

DAYTONA BEACH -- A Daytona Beach man who drove drunk on Interstate 4
and killed three tourists in a car crash was sentenced Monday to 25
years in prison.

David Michael Brown, 33, faced a maximum of life in prison for the
Aug. 7, 2004, collision. Instead he pleaded guilty to three counts of
DUI manslaughter and received a prison sentence prosecutor Bryan
Feigenbaum called "significant," along with lengthy probation.

"Both sides felt this was a reasonable sentence," Feigenbaum said.

Brown was driving home from dinner at a Winter Park restaurant with
his girlfriend and 11-year-old brother, also injured in the crash,
when the car he was driving east crossed the grassy median near DeLand
at 9:20 p.m.

Annette Balistreri, 40, of Troy N.Y., and her parents, Dominick and
Carol Nichols, were killed instantly when Brown's car slammed into the
rented car they were driving from Ponce Inlet to Kissimmee while on
vacation.

Brown, convicted of drunken driving twice before, drank three potent
vodka drinks in less than an hour before getting behind the wheel,
Feigenbaum said. His blood alcohol level was nearly three times the
amount -- .08 -- in which a driver is considered legally drunk.

On a wet roadway, Brown's car crossed the median and slammed into the
car driven by Balistreri. Her front-seat passenger, Melissa Shufron,
38, was the only survivor in that car. Records show Brown's driver's
license was revoked at least five times between 1993 and 1998. He was
convicted of drunken driving twice before, prosecutors said, including
once in 1999.

Brown's guilty plea was entered on the day when jury selection was
supposed to begin for his rescheduled trial. The case ended in a
mistrial last month when a juror recognized a witness for the defense.

Brown will be on probation for 25 years after his release. He will
also have to give money to a drunken driver's awareness program, speak
about the dangers of drinking and driving and he loses his Florida
driver's license for the rest of his life.