County Judge gets off easy on DWI

Montgomery County (Texas) Judge Alan Sadler pled guilty to driving while intoxicated today. Mr. Sadler was arrested on suspicion of DWI after rear-ending a car as he left the parking lot of a restaurant in Conroe. Mr. Sadler declined the police officer's request for a breath sample, but after a judge signed a warrant authorizing a forced blood draw, Mr. Sadler blew into the intoxilyzer -- and "passed." Unfortunately for Mr. Sadler, the results of the blood test showed prescription medications along with alcohol -- enough said Montgomery County District Attorney Brett Ligon to indicate he was intoxicated by the synergistic effect of the drugs and alcohol.

Mr. Sadler was ordered to pay a $1000 fine and his driver's license was suspended for 90 days -- quite a bit less than the standard one-year suspension meted out for straight (no probation) pleas.

Interestingly enough, Mr. Sadler wasn't even ticketed for causing the accident -- he was issued a written warning for following too closely.