Bus Driver in Drunk Case Is Sentenced

A school bus driver jailed when he showed up drunk at his sentencing hearing returned to court a day later Wednesday and was sentenced to 32 months in prison for driving his bus while intoxicated and using an alias to get a driver’s license.

Harold Keith Lone, 40, sat quietly in a blue jail uniform as Van Nuys Superior Court Judge James M. Coleman discussed sentencing options.

In sentencing Lone, Coleman let stand a plea-bargain that was agreed to before his appearance in court Tuesday.

Lone had appeared for sentencing Tuesday disheveled and drunk, and disrupted proceedings by yelling, “No way, Jose” as his attorney tried to quiet him. He was held in Los Angeles County Jail overnight on Coleman’s orders after his blood-alcohol level was measured at .35%--more than four times the 0.08% level at which a person is legally presumed to be intoxicated, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Plafker.

Prosecutors had speculated Tuesday that Lone’s intoxication could prompt Coleman to reject a plea-bargain reached in March.

Lone had pleaded guilty to two charges that stemmed from his arrival drunk last January at an Encino elementary school, where he was to pick up children. In exchange, prosecutors had agreed to drop an additional count of driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license and agreed to ask for a sentence of no more than two years and eight months in prison. Conviction on all four charges would have carried a possible sentence of four years and eight months.

Lone’s attorney, Thom Tibor, argued Wednesday that Coleman should not penalize his client for having shown up intoxicated for the court appearance.

“Alcoholism is a disease,” Tibor said.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gloria Mas told Coleman that prosecutors were willing to abide by the plea-bargain. “I don’t think it’s right for us to punish him for that because he’s not being tried for that,” Mas said of Lone’s conduct, noting that Lone’s guilty plea saved the time and expense of a trial.

The judge agreed that because Lone did not drive to court while intoxicated Tuesday he would allow the plea bargain to stand. In an interview later, Coleman said he agreed with Tibor that Lone’s problem is alcoholism and that he believed it “more important to get the man in prison and away from here” than to reject the plea-bargain and send the case to trial.

The judge added that “the worst” sanctions Lone could have faced for coming to court intoxicated were contempt of court or public drunkenness, a misdemeanor.

“It just didn’t require further expenditure of time, energy and money” for a few extra months in prison, Coleman said.

Lone, 40, secured a driver’s license and a job with the Laidlaw school bus company under the alias Harold Keith Holmes to hide five prior drunk driving convictions and a lengthy arrest record for crimes including robbery, burglary and auto theft, prosecutors said.

A probation report released Wednesday quoted Lone as acknowledging that his drinking “got out of hand,” saying he drinks a half a pint of alcohol a day. He “now states he is very sorry” for the school bus incident, the probation officer said.

Lone said that he began drinking heavily in 1986 after his mother died, the report said, but added that his prior drunk driving convictions occurred between 1982 and 1985. The probation officer concluded that Lone “has virtually no regard for anyone’s life, not even his own” and “needs to be stopped immediately, and for the greatest period of time.”

With credit for work time and good behavior, Lone probably will serve no more than 16 months, Coleman said.