Ninth DWI gets Montgomery County man 30 years in prison

Kevin Michael Koch, 53, also known as Carl Wendell Hall, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to a 2011 Montgomery County charge of driving while intoxicated. Kevin Michael Koch, 53, also known as Carl Wendell Hall, was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to a 2011 Montgomery County charge of driving while intoxicated. Photo: Montgomery County Photo: Montgomery County Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Ninth DWI gets Montgomery County man 30 years in prison 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

A Montgomery County man with a lengthy arrest record has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, after pleading guilty to his ninth charge of driving while intoxicated.

Kevin Michael Koch, 53, entered the plea Monday, as his jury trial was about to begin in the 221st State District Court in Conroe.

Koch, who sometimes used the alias Carl Wendell Hall, requested probation but wasn't eligible due to prior stints in prison, said Assistant District Attorney Vince Santini.

Koch must serve at least 7.5 years before becoming a candidate for parole, Santini said.

"Hopefully, he will be in for a long time," Santini said.

Koch's ninth arrest for DWI took place Sept. 30, 2011, on Walden Road approaching Texas 105 near Lake Conroe.

A sheriff's deputy saw his Chevy 3500 dually pickup swerve into oncoming traffic and stopped him, Santini said.

"At the time, we didn't know it was nine," Santini said.

That came out later, after investigators pieced together his record, Santini said.

"It was a lot of work to keep up with him," he said, noting that much of the sleuthing was done by Heather Cash, investigator for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

Koch first went to prison for a third DWI conviction in Texas in 1993, Santini said.

After serving three years, Koch went to Nashville, Tenn., where he was charged with DWI in late 1996.

When arrested in Nashville, he was wearing a holster with a pack of cigarettes that he tried to "pull" on an officer who stopped him.

Santini said it was unclear if Koch was convicted in Tennessee, but he moved on to Jacksonville, Fla., where he had another DWI conviction in 1997.

Between then and the 2011 arrest in Montgomery County, he had no further DWI arrests.

While free on bond for the 2011 arrest, however, he picked up his tenth DWI arrest in March 2012 in Webster. Koch ultimately pleaded guilty to that charge and was sentenced Oct. 31 to 10 years in prison.

He had been in the Harris County Jail until being transferred to the Montgomery County Jail in preparation for this week's trial, Santini said.

Planning to go to trial, Santini had assembled officers from other cities where Koch racked up DWI charges.

"They remember this guy, which is incredible," Santini said. "He leaves that kind of mark on you."

Koch remained Thursday in the Montgomery County Jail, awaiting transfer to prison, Santini said.