By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
CENTREVILLE — John McDonough was ordered to participate in Sobriety Court and had his driver’s license revoked after pleading guilty to a drunk driving charge in a St. Joseph County courtroom Monday.
The former St. Joseph County prosecutor and former member of the Three Rivers Community Schools Board of Education entered a guilty plea in 3B District Court to a charge of operating while intoxicated, his second such offense in the last four years.
As part of the Sobriety Court sentence, McDonough will also receive two days in jail at a future time to be determined, meet with a judge every two weeks, partake in regular testing at the Day Reporting Center, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, participate in group treatment and perform community service. He is also barred from having drugs or alcohol, and he will pay court fees, but no fines.
Because his driver’s license was revoked, he will not be able to get it back for at least five years, provided he completes the Sobriety Court program, and if he does get it back, an interlock system would be installed in his vehicle, according to District Court Judge Jeffrey Middleton.
McDonough was arrested by police on the night of Oct. 30 in Three Rivers after initially being pulled over at West Michigan Avenue and Railroad Drive for having a headlight out. The officer, according to a police report obtained via Freedom of Information Act request, noted in their report that the vehicle McDonough was driving was “weaving within its lane and out of its lane” beforehand, and that while talking with McDonough, the officer observed “signs of intoxication,” including watery and “extremely bloodshot” eyes, and “noticed an odor of intoxicants” coming from him while standing outside of the vehicle.
McDonough reportedly showed four of six signs of intoxication during a field sobriety test, and then took a breathalyzer test, in which he registered a .092 blood alcohol level, above the legal limit, leading to his arrest. Subsequent breathalyzer tests showed levels at .089 and .088.
During Monday’s hearing, Middleton said in conversations with McDonough’s attorney, Michael Hills, Hills told Middleton that McDonough did not want to have a trial and that he wanted to “accept responsibility” and be in Sobriety Court. Hills reiterated as much during his comments in the hearing, adding that Hills thought it was a triable case before and after receiving the police report, but McDonough wanted to opt for Sobriety Court.
“When I first talked to Mr. McDonough about this before I had the police report, I kinda knew the facts and said, well, this is a triable case, and he said, ‘I want the help, I want Sobriety Court,’” Hills said. “I think that says a lot right off the bat, that before I even gave him my advice, he wanted Sobriety Court, he wanted help, and he knows he needs the help. That’s what he’s looking for. … I think this is the best option for him.”
McDonough also commented during the hearing, saying if he doesn’t comply with Sobriety Court and “get my act together,” his health would be in jeopardy.
“For me, this is my last chance. I thank the court and the probation department for the opportunity [for Sobriety Court],” McDonough said.
Assistant Prosecutor Gary Gabry said what troubled the prosecutor’s office with the case was that McDonough knew his addiction existed, and still continued to drive. However, Gabry said he commended McDonough on his “honesty” in a pre-sentencing report.
“I think the way he described his drinking problem to the probation department is enlightening,” Gabry said. “Sobriety Court will give him an opportunity to ultimately earn back a driver’s license, it will give him an opportunity to again reincorporate the tools I believed he learned after his first go-around.”
In the end, Gabry said the Prosecutor’s Office is “supportive” of Sobriety Court, noting it is an option available to “every citizen in St. Joseph County that finds themselves in the same predicament as citizen John McDonough.”
“We ask the court to treat him as citizen John McDonough, provide him the help and the opportunity to get that help, and a failure, we know where we’ll end up,” Gabry said.
Middleton, in his comments, said that alcoholism is a “progressive, insidious thing,” and talked about how he had noticed signs of McDonough’s addiction during his second and third terms in office, noting he tried to talk to McDonough about it “without much success.” At one point, Middleton said, he had considered talking with McDonough’s mother or wife about it, but decided not to do so, saying it “would’ve been an insult to [McDonough].”
Middleton also said that he thought, during the campaign for county prosecutor last year that McDonough finished third in the Republican primary for, that McDonough “acquitted himself well” during the debates, and relayed a message from a mutual friend that McDonough “may be the most qualified candidate, were it not for his alcohol addiction.” Middleton then commented, “But you kept driving a damn car.”
Middleton then said he disclosed to Hills that he had heard “feedback” about another alleged incident involving McDonough possibly driving drunk “shortly before” the Oct. 30 incident, a situation in which he said “someone called the police and they were trying to find [McDonough] but they didn’t,” and ultimately did not lead to a charge or conviction. Middleton said he disclosed this to Hills in a conversation about whether or not Hills wanted Middleton to recuse himself from the case because of this.
Middleton then continued.
“The fact that you were .089 and you thought you were fine to drive to Home Depot; you’re also on medication that you’re not supposed to comingle with alcohol. You’re struggling for your life. You were running for office, you were doing public speaking, you were on the school board, you were substitute teaching trying to negotiate your addiction,” Middleton said. “The aggravating part of this, we can all understand the addiction to alcohol, but understand that you can’t drive until we get this situated.”
Ultimately, Middleton said the situation is “a matter life or death” for McDonough.
“You’ve tried inpatient, you’ve tried Kalamazoo probation, your family certainly doesn’t want to see you in this position, and so we’ve got this program, and we’re going to utilize it,” Middleton said. “Our point is to help keep you alive and make you healthy and a whole person again. But you’ve got a lot of weight on your shoulders because you’re not just citizen John McDonough. You’ve borne it pretty well, but let’s see if we can bear it without alcohol.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
I hope this man honestly gets it and follows through with sobriety court and does what he’s told and does not try to cheat the system. If he does follow through and really is being honest that he wants this help he has a good chance to succeed. I myself had to go through sobriety Court and did as I was told I now have 11 years sobriety and know that I’ll never go back to drinking. I just hope this man doesn’t try to beat the system and it actually gets the help that he really needs this time