<strong>janetcremer@daily-journal.com</strong>

815-937-3384

A well-written statement that convicted drunk driver Terry Clark read Monday during his sentencing hearing asking Judge Scott Swaim to consider DUI education over incarceration didn't have the outcome Clark desired.

Swaim gave Clark the 10-year maximum sentence for his most recent DUI, when Clark was arrested by Illinois State Police during an August 2004 roadside safety check in Kankakee.

Clark was already twice convicted of DUI and was also drunk when he killed sisters Jennifer Esworthy, 22, and Jackie Esworthy, 18, during a June 1997 crash at U.S. Route 45-52 and Chebanse Road.

The Esworthy family, of Ogden, and a passenger were returning from a baptism when Clark drove through a stop sign and hit their vehicle. He pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was out on parole when the most recent DUI occurred.

Neither Jim nor Barb Esworthy, parents of the girls, were in the courtroom, though they did attend a sentencing hearing in July which was postponed because Clark changed his mind about acting as his own lawyer.

This time, though he had fired her in May, Imani Drew again served as his defense attorney.

Dressed in his orange jail uniform and wearing leg shackles, Clark pointed out that in Europe, the approach to DUI offenders is education and not incarceration. He said taxi cab rides are offered to thwart driving drunk. He also noted that until he recently discovered alcoholism recovery programs and developed a support group, the previous jail time he had served didn't help him get to "the root of my problem, in any way."

Clark also alleged that the most recent DUI charge and maximum sentencing was a way to punish him for past crimes for which he has already done time.

When Clark noted that incarceration costs taxpayers $22,000 a year, Assistant State's Attorney Mike Quinlan responded that the state would "gladly pay to incarcerate individuals like Terry Clark," and said giving him the maximum sentence is needed "to deter others and send a message."

Quinlan also said that if Clark is so enamored with Europe's alcohol prevention programs "he ought to move there."

There are alternatives to drinking and getting behind the wheel, Quinlan added. "What about a little self-restraint, or buying your own taxi ride, walking home. ... It's never an option to consider alcohol in excess and then get behind the wheel," he said.

Swaim agreed, telling Clark that the "only way to keep you off the road and from offending again is to keep you incarcerated."

Clark has already served 38 months in the Jerome Combs Detention Center since his most recent DUI arrest -- time that he will be credited with in the most recent sentencing of 10 years for DUI and five years for driving with a revoked license. The terms will run concurrently and consequently Clark could again be out on parole in less than two years.

A hearing to reconsider the sentencing has been set for Nov. 2.