A Dixon man pleaded guilty on Nov. 14 to two counts of drunk driving seventh offense, for incidents in 2019 and 2021.
The plea deal for Raymond Sanchez, 67, set his sentence at one year in prison, followed by one year on house arrest, followed by five years of supervised probation.
Among the conditions of his sentence, Sanchez isn’t allowed to drink or use drugs and he must get an ignition interlock device for his car, which requires him to blow into a tube to check for alcohol on his breath before letting him turn it on, according to the plea deal.
While the judge, defense attorney, Sanchez and prosecutor signed the plea deal on Nov. 14, it wasn’t entered into the court record until Nov. 17, according to a time stamp.
The plea deal downgraded the charges Sanchez was facing from DWI eighth or subsequent offense to seventh offense, which also meant a lower possible sentence.
Sanchez pleaded guilty in 2021 to aggravated DWI fourth offense for an incident in 2018.
In that plea, he received a six-month sentence and had his probation revoked, then reinstated on Aug. 16, 2021, after his arrest on May 9 for the 2021 drunk driving case.
According to the plea deal, Sanchez admitted he has a litany of prior drunk driving arrests, including those in 2018, 2013, 2011, 2010, 2007, 2003, 2000 and 1989.
2021 Arrest
Then-Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Deputy Danny Pacheco arrested Sanchez on May 9, 2021 on a charge of drunk driving, following a rollover crash on State Road 68 near Dixon.
When Pacheco approached the ambulance where Sanchez was sitting, he smelled alcohol and Sanchez unable to stand. He refused any tests for his blood-alcohol level, according to court documents.
The case was bound over to district court a year later on Aug. 17, 2022, after he waived a preliminary hearing.
2019 arrest
New Mexico State Police Officer Sean Laursen charged Sanchez on Dec. 12, 2019, with aggravated drunk driving, open container of alcohol in a vehicle and driving on a license suspended for DWI.
He was sent to help another officer on State Road 75 with a traffic stop with a possible intoxicated driver.
Laursen found Sanchez had bloodshot, watery eyes and he could smell alcohol in the vehicle. Sanchez told the officer he was driving to work at Walmart.
Once he got out of the car, the officer smelled alcohol on Sanchez, who said he drank two 12-ounce alcoholic beverages, he wrote.
Laursen wrote he then had Sanchez conduct a series of field sobriety tests and on each test, there was an indication he was drunk, at which point he arrested him.
Sanchez refused any alcohol tests and Laursen took him to the Tierra Amarilla Detention Center.
Sanchez waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Aug. 17 and the case was bound over.