Ohio’s OVI Laws Aim to Crack Down on Repeat Offenders

The referenced article written by Braden Keith, posted by Swimswam.com shows how Ohio’s OVI laws punish repeat offenders more severely than previous years. Keith’s article talks about Cameron Craig, a promising young swimmer for Ohio State University, who was recently charged with his second OVI, operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Craig was charged with his first OVI just a few weeks prior on January 16, 2020. After pleading guilty to his first offense, a general driving while impaired charge, Craig received a $375.00 fine, three days of jail time, and his license was suspended for 366 days.

It was during this license suspension that Craig was pulled over again for operating a vehicle while intoxicated. This time his blood alcohol content was over the Ohio legal limit of .08. This means that it will be considered a “high level” charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. With this being Craig’s second guilty offense of operating a vehicle while impaired, the penalties are more severe than his first offense. Specifically in the state of Ohio, if you have two guilty pleas for driving a vehicle wile intoxicated within 10 years of each other the minimum mandatory jail time is 10 days. If you have blood alcohol content above the Ohio legal limit the minimum mandatory jail time is 20 days. The maximum amount of jail time could be up to 180 days, you could lose your drivers license for up to eight years, and you could face fines more than $1,500.00.

As for Craig’s promising swimming career, he is currently taking a leave of absence. I think we can all learn from Cameron Craig’s mistakes, and realize that Ohio’s OVI laws are meant to crack down on repeat offenders. Having legal representation is vital to getting the least severe punishment for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

https://swimswam.com/cameron-craig-arrested-2-days-after-pleading-guilty-to-dui-charge/