Man gets 15 years in jail for 15th DUI
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A Carrick man labeled by a judge as a roadway "terrorist" because of his 34-year history of driving drunk will spend as many as 15 years in prison following his 14th and 15th drunken driving convictions.
Richard Anthony Caporal, 56, was supposed to go on trial Thursday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman on charges stemming from a 2008 drunken driving arrest.
His first trial in that case ended in a mistrial last winter when the jury couldn't reach a verdict.
The retrial was to start Thursday, after a jury was empaneled the day before, but Mr. Caporal decided to plead guilty.
Judge Cashman immediately sentenced him for that case and another from 2009 following his conviction on June 8.
The judge likened Mr. Caporal to a terrorist in that his potential victims are innocent drivers and described his conduct as a "continuous, callous disregard" for the law. He also said Mr. Caporal has more DUIs than anyone who has ever appeared before him, although two runners-up are close at 13 each.
A minor dispute arose over the true number. The district attorney's office said Mr. Caporal has been convicted 15 times since 1977 while the judge said he actually has 14 convictions, although he's been charged 15 times. He said it's unclear what happened in that remaining case.
"This guy is my record," the judge said.
Mr. Caporal, whom the judge said has repeatedly borrowed his ex-wife's car and other vehicles to drive, won't be eligible to get his license reinstated until 2043, when he'll be nearly 90.
In the most recent case, police said Mr. Caporal wrecked a station wagon in the front yard of a house on Mount Joseph Street on Jan. 15, 2009, after drinking at a bar on Brownsville Road.
In the 2008 incident, police responded on Nov. 11 to the Foodland on Brownsville Road, where a state constable and the store manager said a drunk Mr. Caporal was trying to drive off. The constable tackled him and held him for police.
Mr. Caporal negotiated a deal with the district attorney's office in both cases in May in which he would plead guilty and receive a prison term of 21/2 to five years.
But Judge Cashman rejected the plea because he said the penalty wasn't stiff enough considering Mr. Caporal's history, which includes one stretch in 1993 in which he was cited for DUI three times in 32 days.
Mr. Caporal has been in the Allegheny County Jail since the February mistrial, when Judge Cashman revoked his bond.
First Published June 24, 2011 12:00 am
