Local News in Brief : 8-Year, 8-Month Jail Sentence for Drunk Driving Is Upheld

An appeals court has affirmed an eight-year, eight-month jail sentence imposed in 1984 on an Encino hot-tub salesman, the longest sentence ever imposed in the United States for drunk driving.

Gary Lin Christopher, 40, was convicted in September, 1984, of four counts of driving under the influence of alcohol in February and March of that year and 12 other counts, including driving with a revoked license.

He was sentenced to nine years and 220 days, including 345 days for violating probation on a previous drunk-driving conviction.

The Los Angeles Superior Court Appellate Department on Monday revoked that part of the sentence, saying Christopher had completed the probation period before his later arrests.

The remaining term still qualifies as the longest drunk-driving sentence in the United States, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office said.

“This was a landmark case because it sent a loud and clear message to the public that prosecutors and the courts were treating drunken driving as a serious crime menacing society,” City Atty. James Hahn said.

“In this case, not only was Christopher being tried for four DUI arrests in a two-month period during 1984, but he had a record of 25 previous convictions as well.”