Former judge pleads guilty to third OWI

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A former Muscatine County judge has pleaded guilty to his third drunken driving charge.

James Weaver, 55, of Blue Grass, Iowa, is set to be sentenced Aug. 6, court documents indicate. Iris Frost, the case’s special prosecutor, will ask for incarceration, a letter in Weaver’s file indicates.

Weaver’s attorney, John Wunder, could not be reached for comment.

Weaver was arrested in March. He had a blood-alcohol-content level more than two times the legal limit for driving in Iowa, court documents say.

Weaver had two prior drunken-driving convictions from 2002 and 2004. He received a disability retirement as a judge based on depression and alcoholism. He returned to practicing law, but court documents now indicate he is unemployed.

Weaver, court records say, first drank at 14. He has been to treatment at least four times.

The retired judge was traveling southbound on U.S. 61 when an Iowa State Patrol officer stopped him near the Blue Grass exit for speeding and failing to stop at a stop sign. He was also cited for not wearing a seat belt.

Third-offense drunken driving carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.

 

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