FARMINGTON — A former Livermore road foreman changed his plea on a drunken-driving charge to guilty Tuesday in Farmington District Court.
Gerald Whitney, 60, of Wilton was fined $500 and sentenced to 48 hours at the Franklin County Detention Center and lost his license for 150 days, after Judge Maria Woodman accepted the new plea.
Whitney pleaded not guilty in April to the misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence.
On March 18, Farmington police officer Michael Lyman noticed a taillight out on a vehicle being operated poorly on Main Street, according to police. Lyman interviewed the driver, identified as Whitney, and asked him to do an intoxilyzer breath test. Whitney was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of operating under the influence, according to police.
The minimum mandatory punishment for a first-time offense of operating under the influence is a $500 fine and a 150-day license suspension, unless there are aggravating factors, according to state law.
Whitney’s commercial driver’s license was suspended April 24.
He was released from his position as road foreman in Livermore on May 2 by a unanimous vote of selectpersons. He was hired by the town in November 2015.
Defense lawyer Walter Hanstein’s request that Whitney serve his jail sentence starting June 10 because of his new employment was granted.
abryant@sunmediagroup.net
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