Posted on: Wednesday, June 26, 2002

Manoa woman with DUI record gets 10 years for auto theft

By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer

A Manoa woman who accumulated five drunken-driving convictions during the past eight years was sentenced to 10 years in prison yesterday, but not for driving repeatedly under the influence of alcohol.

Circuit Judge Marie Milks granted a request by city deputy prosecutor Darryl Miyahira to sentence Susan Fodor to an extended term of 10 years on each of two counts of auto theft. Milks also sentenced Fodor to a five-year term on a third auto-theft count.

All of the terms are to run concurrently and it will be up to the Hawai'i Paroling Authority to determine the minimum sentence Fodor must serve before she is eligible for parole.

In a series of sobbing outbursts, Fodor, 55, told Milks that none of her drunken-driving convictions resulted in injury to anyone and that she considers prison "a humongous, huge waste of time."

"There's not a particle of my being that is violent," Fodor told Milks.

But Milks told Fodor that her record of arrests and convictions since 1994 suggests otherwise. Fodor's record during that time includes arrests or convictions for driving under the influence, harassment, criminal property damage, terroristic threatening and second-degree assault, Milks said.

Fodor's lawyer, Valerie Vargo, had argued that the offenses for which Fodor was being charged were nonviolent and did not warrant a 10-year sentence.

Vargo said Fodor was homeless, had no money and had no place to go and that she took vans that did not belong to her to use as a home. No damage was done to the vans based on the fact that no restitution was sought from Fodor, Vargo said.

She said Fodor wouldn't receive mental health treatment or physical therapy for chronic health conditions if sentenced to prison.

Instead, Vargo suggested that Fodor should be sentenced to probation and required to undergo mental health and substance abuse treatment.

But Milks said Fodor had been sentenced to probation on multiple drunken-driving offenses and had a poor record of attending treatment programs.

Fodor interrupted Milks several times, saying reports by treatment program operators that she was abusive to them were overblown and were not a fair picture of her attempts to come to grips with her alcoholism.

"My needs won't be met in jail," Fodor told Milks.

Milks then told Fodor that in sentencing her to prison, she was doing what was best for the community, not what was best for Fodor.