Ohio’s Worst DUI Offender Sentenced to 16 ½ Years

By Marianne Madden

Published on February 28, 2007

Jess R. Brown, 51, with 20 DUI convictions, has the worst DUI record in the state of Ohio.

The sentencing judge, Summit County Common Pleas Judge Patricia Cosgrove, denied Brown’s requests for leniency. She also chose to run the sentences for Brown’s multiple offenses — drunk-driving convictions and others such as driving without a license — consecutively, for a longer prison term. Because he is a repeat offender, Brown received five years of mandatory prison time for each DUI offense. He will not be eligible for parole.

In a letter Brown sent to Cosgrove in December, he wrote of a difficult life and begged for alcoholism treatment instead of jail time. In a follow-up letter, he complained that people ignore the "good deeds" he has done throughout his life, and instead focus on his driving record.

Brown’s first DUI conviction was in 1997, and in 1999 his driver’s license was suspended for life. By borrowing or taking vehicles, however, Brown still managed to drive. In his most recent accident, Brown was out of jail on bond for a previous DUI. He acquired a vehicle and crashed into the car driven by Evelyn Grady of Norton, who appeared in court on Tuesday and said she felt lucky to be alive after the accident.

Comment on this article →