Prison time ordered after man found guilty of fifth, sixth OWIs
Jerry Bacinett, 51, could have faced up to a decade in prison for each OWI charge had he not taken the agreement. Under Wisconsin law the fifth and sixth convictions carry the same penalties, which can also include up to $25,000 in fines.
Bacinett's fifth OWI dates to a filing from August 2023. He was arrested again in the fall of 2024, while the earlier case was still pending. That meant he technically faced two OWI-5 charges until his no contest plea convicted him of one and changed the second into an OWI-6 charge.
He missed a court appearance for his arraignment in the latter case one month ago. A status conference five days later saw him enter a not guilty plea. The warrant for his arrest was quashed.
Monday's proceeding initially looked like a rerun of the Jan. 10 hearing, with Bacinett not in court. But he wasn't skipping it, just running late. Bacinett told the court he wanted to accept the plea agreement.
According to the criminal complaint, the earlier case began when officers responded to a call about a vehicle crashing into a utility pole. They found a truck with damage consistent with such an impact parked at a nearby residence.
A woman who answered the door at the residence said Bacinett had come home and gone straight to bed. She woke him and told him police wanted to speak with him, but he had trouble standing when he reached the door. He told officers he had not been drinking, but they could smell alcohol on him.
Bacinett failed sobriety tests, and a breath test returned a level of .228. A later blood draw came back even higher: .338.
Bacinett's prior convictions included cases in Trempealeau, Buffalo and Clark counties dating to 1991.
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