Court appearance unveils previous DUI

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By Kyle Magin
Bonanza Staff Writer
April 27, 2008, 6:01 AM

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Antonio Sandoval-Perez, an Incline Village man, pled guilty to his second DUI Tuesday at Incline Justice Court.

The guilty plea wasn’t a surprise to a friend of Sandoval-Perez, Incline resident Chuck Meyer.

What was a surprise, Meyer said, was the fact this DUI represents a second conviction for Sandoval-Perez.

Meyer accompanied Sandoval-Perez, 31, to court Tuesday. He has been helping his friend navigate the legal system since Sandoval-Perez was arrested on March 18 for DUI in Incline Village. After the arrest, Sandoval-Perez, an illegal Guatemalan immigrant, was detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and sent to a federal immigration detention center in Florence, Ariz.

Meyer helped Sandoval-Perez through the process, staying in touch through phone and arranging lawyers and bail money so Sandoval-Perez could return to Incline to face his Tuesday DUI hearing.

Meyer said he had no idea about a previous DUI conviction until Sandoval-Perez’s sentence was handed down Tuesday.

“I was disappointed when I found out,” Meyer said. “But, I thought about it, and I wouldn’t have done anything differently, I would have still helped him out.”

Judge Alan Tiras of the IVJC confirmed that a DUI arrest in January 2007 in Incline was adjudicated in April 2007 at the court for a Rene Perez.

The Washoe County District Attorney’s office confirmed through fingerprints and arrest photos that Rene Perez was an alias which Antonio Sandoval-Perez used.
As for Tuesday’s hearing, Sandoval-Perez’s sentence was consistent with the norm for a second DUI offense.

In an e-mail to the Bonanza, Tiras said that Sandoval-Perez was issued a $945 fine, 14 days of in-home confinement, a 60-day suspended prison sentence, 100 hours of community service, a victim impact panel video and an alcohol evaluation. Tiras said all second-time DUI offenders and all DUI offenders with a blood-alcohol level of .18 or higher must participate in the alcohol evaluation to discover what DUI program is appropriate for them.

In Sandoval-Perez’s case, he fit both applicable descriptions for the alcohol evaluation.

Meyer previously said Sandoval-Perez would serve his community service at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, because the church started a fund to support Sandoval-Perez’s family since he has been out of work.