Multiple DUIs lead to jail term for Mount Vernon man

Published 10:12 pm Tuesday, June 24, 2008

EVERETT — In less than a year, a Mount Vernon man racked up four drunken-driving convictions.

Those past convictions came back to haunt him on Tuesday when he was sentenced to more than three years behind bars under a new state law aimed to crackdown on habitual drunken drivers.

Sergey Kazakov, 23, hung his head as his mother tearfully asked Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Richard Thorpe for leniency.

Kazakov pleaded guilty to felony DUI last month stemming from an arrest in January. A sheriff’s deputy found Kazakov slumped over the wheel of a van on Pioneer Highway. His license was suspended and he was drunk on tequila and beer, court records show.

Drunken driving typically is a gross misdemeanor subject to a fine and no more than a year in jail. Under the law that went into effect last July, a fifth DUI citation within 10 years can be charged as a felony.

Kazakov is the second person in Snohomish County to be prosecuted under the new law, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Ed Stemler said. The sentencing for a third person was delayed Tuesday after she asked for more time to take care of pressing medical problems.

Kazakov had four prior drunken-driving convictions, one in 2005 and three in 2006, court records show.

Thorpe followed Stemler’s recommendation to impose the low end of the sentencing range.

“While he has a horrendous driving record, he’s never been in prison before,” Stemler said.

Defense lawyer Karen Halverson of Everett agreed with the state’s recommendation, saying her client was young and needed help to address his alcohol problem.

Thorpe ordered Kazakov to be evaluated for alcohol and drug dependency.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.