The former assistant chief of the Boone County Fire Protection District pleaded guilty yesterday to driving with an excessive blood-alcohol content and was placed on two years’ unsupervised probation.

Curry

Sharon Curry, 45, was initially charged with driving while intoxicated after an October arrest at a sobriety checkpoint.

Boone County Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie Morrell said the amended charge was filed in exchange for Curry’s guilty plea.

Associate Circuit Judge Larry Bryson ordered Curry to pay a $500 fine but suspended all but $200 of the sentence and placed her on probation.

Morrell said Curry’s sentence was consistent with that received by other first-time offenders. Curry would be able to avoid paying $300 of the fine if she abides by the conditions of her probation, Morrell said.

According to court records, Curry yesterday presented proof to the court that she had completed a class on substance abuse prevention and a victim impact panel. Another condition of Curry’s probation is that she not occupy a private motor vehicle after consuming intoxicants.

Curry and her attorney, Robert Murray, were unavailable for comment this morning.

Morrell said that for a DWI conviction, prosecutors must prove that the driver was intoxicated. With an excessive blood-alcohol content charge, prosecutors only have to prove that alcohol in the driver’s blood sample exceeded the state’s threshold - .08 percent.

"From our end, because of the range of punishment, … the charges are the same," Morrell said. "The difference is the elements and what we would have to establish."

Curry was arrested on Grindstone Parkway at Grindstone Plaza during a checkpoint where more than 800 vehicles were stopped between 11 p.m. Oct. 27 and 3 a.m. Oct. 28.

Curry resigned from the fire district in February.

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