Drunken driver gets six years in prison

A 61-year-old Gardnerville man with 11 prior driving under the influence arrests was sentenced Monday to six years in Nevada State Prison.

"I can only think of one or two cases in my 25 years of experience as a lawyer and a judge where someone had more DUIs than you," District Judge Michael Gibbons told Gary Allen Jacobson.

Prosecutor Kris Brown said Jacobson already had been to prison twice.

He told the judge even though he had two convictions in 2002 and 2004, he'd been sober from 1990 to 2006.

He said the convictions were drug-related rather than alcohol.

"I realize my record is horrendous, but I had no alcohol from 1990 to 2006 and I know I can do it again," Jacobson said.

After he earned the drug-related convictions, he said he stopped using narcotics even though they were prescribed pain medication.

He said he started drinking again last year because of financial and family problems.

"I thought I could control it," he said.

His latest arrest was New Year's Day when he was stopped with a blood-alcohol content of .31, nearly four times the legal limit of .08 for driving in Nevada. Jacobson asked for leniency because of his age, but Gibbons said it was his responsibility to protect the community.

"You're going to kill yourself or somebody else," Gibbons said. "You should be thankful you're alive and everybody else around you. It's a miracle."

"I do thank God that I have never been in an accident where somebody got hurt," Jacobson said.

He must serve a minimum of two years before he is eligible for parole.

Jacobson also was fined $2,000. He was given credit for 78 days in Douglas County Jail.