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Two mug shots of Ronald J. Sutherland

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BAY CITY, MI -- Thirteen years after drunkenly driving through Bay County with his minor son in the car, a man is heading to jail for the next few months.

Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran on Tuesday, Jan. 3, sentenced 51-year-old Ronald J. Sutherland to one year in jail. The judge gave him credit for 137 days already served and ordered he pay $198 in court fines and costs.

Sutherland in November pleaded guilty to one count of third-offense operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Though the charge is punishable by up to five years in prison, prosecutors recommended Sutherland not be sent to prison on his initial sentence.

Prosecutors also dismissed single counts of driving while intoxicated with a passenger younger than 16-child endangerment and second-offense driving while license suspended, revoked, or denied.

According to police reports contained in court files, an off-duty Bay County Sheriff's deputy called 911 at about 6:23 p.m. on Dec. 30, 2003, to report a suspected drunken driver. The deputy was driving behind a burgundy 1994 Dodge car as it traveled east on Wilder Road in Monitor Township.

The Dodge eventually pulled into the Meijer parking lot, where Michigan State Police troopers and the deputy stopped it. The driver, identified as Sutherland, told police he was traveling from Sanford. In the car was his 14-year-old son, court records show.

Sutherland told troopers his driver's license was suspended due to a 2001 drunken driving conviction. He initially denied having consumed alcohol, but then told police he drank two double shots of vodka at a friend's house between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., court records show.

Sutherland submitted to a personal Breathalyzer test, which indicated his blood alcohol level was at 0.12 percent as of 6:40 p.m. In Michigan, a person is legally intoxicated when his or her blood alcohol level hits 0.08.

Police arrested Sutherland. His fiancee and the owner of the Dodge came to the scene and took his son, court records show.

After his arrest, Sutherland was freed on a $6,500 surety bond posted by a local bonding agency. He failed to show up for a Feb. 9, 2004, court hearing.

On March 11, 2004, then-Bay County District Judge Scott Newcombe issued a bench warrant for his arrest and forfeited his bond.

Sutherland had the outstanding charges and warrant hanging over his head until police arrested him in Lewiston, an unincorporated community in Montmorency County, on Tuesday, Aug. 22 -- more than 12 years later. Two days later, he was arraigned in Bay County District Court on failure to appear for prior court hearings. At that time, Sutherland said he had moved out of Michigan in early 2004 and had been living in Florida.

Sutherland is a registered sex offender, having been convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in Gladwin County in 1999. In August 2006, he was convicted in Florida of failing to register as a sex offender.