Fossella DUI: Guilty Plea For Former Rep.

NEW YORK — Former Rep. Vito Fossella pleaded guilty to drunken driving charges in a Virginia court on Monday, the day a jury trial was to begin in the case that ruined his political career. The former congressman said he was moved in part by last week's drunken-driving accident that killed a Los Angeles Angels pitcher.

Attorneys for the Staten Island Republican _ whose May 1 arrest led to revelations he had fathered a child from an extramarital affair _ had planned to fight Fossella's five-day sentence in Alexandria, Va., with arguments that the breath-test machine police used was faulty. Police say the test showed Fossella's blood-alcohol level was 0.17 percent, well above the legal limit.

Defense attorney Barry Pollack said attempts to obtain information about the breath-test machine in other courts were unsuccessful and the former congressman "decided that what made sense for him was to accept responsibility for his actions."

The death on Thursday of 22-year-old Nick Adenhart, who was killed when the car he was driving in was broadsided by a suspected drunken driver, partially led to Fossella's surprise decision, Pollack said.

"It certainly highlighted again for Mr. Fossella and I think for the public the dangers of drinking and driving," Pollack said.

"With that in the news, Mr. Fossella thought it particuarly appropriate for him to acknowledge his own wrongdoing and not to fight over the issue of the accuracy of the reading in this particular case. The fact of the matter is, he had something to drink."

Fossella, 43, entered the plea in Alexandria Circuit Court. He has four days remaining on the five-day sentence issued in December and will serve them beginning this Friday over two weekends in Alexandria. He was given credit for the day he served when he was arrested.

Fossella, who had served in Congress since 1997, was pulled over after running a red light on May 1, and convicted of drunken driving in October. He appealed his conviction, which automatically entitled him to a jury trial under Virginia law.

Fossella told police at the time of his arrest that he was on his way to visit a daughter he had in the area, raising questions about who his daughter was. He later acknowledged he had fathered a child through an affair with a former Air Force officer. The congressman has a wife and three children in his home district.

Fossella was the only Republican member of the New York City congressional delegation before he stepped down. Democrat Michael McMahon won Fossella's congressional seat last November.

Comments

[gcallaghan]

A republican pleading guilty?

What's he really up to?

[deeppeace]

Finally--a Republican mensch.

[rad21]

So our esteemed law-maker was initially prepared to lie?

[huffy2001]

Well he is a Republican and a Congressman, for crying out loud.

[Madmac]

It's nice to know that out of tragedy something good (for the moment) has come out it.

[Cinnamonape]

My client was not drunk...it was a defective breathalyzer...but he decided to confess after being stunned at the death of a baseball player by a drunk driver!

Yeah, THAT makes sense.

[bascombe]

SHOCK OF AGES!

A republican taking responsibility for his actions.

Who ever would have believed it?

[redsongia]

Let's hope it catches on.

[tommytoons]

I'm so happy to hear a Republican admitted he was wrong! Perhaps this may start a wave of other Republicans saying they were wrong? But I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for the wave to begin!

[MadCroation]

Don't hold your breath.

[kkent]

Unlike Democrats whose mottos are "Lie to you die"! Right Blago!

[RegLib]

His attorneys couldn't come up with a successful defense so he "...decided that what made sense for him was to accept responsibility for his actions."

A highly publicized death "...highlighted again for Mr. Fossella and I think for the public the dangers of drinking and driving."

In other words, Mr. Fossella has no moral compass to tell him on his own what is right and wrong. This guy is truly disgusting.

[bascombe]

I no longer expect more from any public official, especially from a repuke.

[heal57]

Fosella did the right thing accepting responsibility for his DUI. [and for responsibility of his child with a woman other than his wife]. 5 days is not a lifetime.

[joebloe]

I commend Mr Fossela for owning up to his crminality. He was lucky he didn't k'ill someone himself. Hopefully he will seek to get rteatment for his problem.
But I have to wonder why can't we treat other drugs in the same way? If you drive under the influence or do other criminal acts, then, of course you should pay for that. But to lock people up just because they have a drug problem seems to be dealing with symptoms, not the real problem.

[ibsteve2u]

A Republican who accepts responsibility? How odd.

[TryToBeFlexible]

If a Republican seems to accept responsibility for his crimes, then something really is odd. However, in this case, he couldn't beat the rap, the sentence was only 5 days, and he could better position himself for future selfish gain by "taking responsibility". Self interest once again wins out.

[MadCroation]

Sounds like he was trying to get of on a technicality. That's so liberal.

[Tommygun264]

He was "moved" by the evidence against him, which was iron-clad. Shame on him for invoking the name of a drunk driving victim in his plea for a lesser sentence.

[ebrann]

Any defense attorney will tell you no evidence is iron-clad. Whatever his motivations for accepting responsibility, it was right to do so. Whether he spends one day or one year in jail, his plea should tell others that planning to drive after having something to drink is always a mistake, and there's no excuse for it.

[lisakaz2]

I hear that. The key point is that a Puggy FINALLY took some responsibility. Gotta like that, even if the reasons are massaged for PR's sake.

[ElTommo]

To be fair, he dropped his appeal and plead guilty. The five-day sentence (which, seems to be me to be absolutely absurd, frankly.) had already been handed down in December. He opted to serve his sentence rather than fight it farther.

[bascombe]

to be fair, this is just another opportunistic politician, using someone else's catastrophe as a faux , pang of conscience.

[brandnewstuff]

The worse Drunk Drivers-
In the Early 80's as a child my brother and I asleep after a circus and a drunk 18 year almost killed the enitre family- I will never forget the Ungoldy amount of surgeries my mother had as her face broke on the steering wheel of an LTD. In the early 8o's Laws sucked!! PUNISHMENTS DETER