Man gets 10 years in prison in DUI case

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Staff report

A 40-year-old man received a 10-year prison sentence this week after pleading guilty to drunken-driving charges stemming from an April 2007 wreck in Mount Pleasant, authorities said.

Before his trial was to start, James Eric Freeman pleaded guilty to felony driving under the influence with great bodily injury, according to the 9th Circuit Solicitor's Office. Circuit Judge Roger Young imposed the sentence. The maximum punishment is 15 years imprisonment.

Freeman twice before had been convicted of driving under the influence and also had been convicted of possession of marijuana and cocaine with intent to distribute, authorities said.

The crash occurred around 8 p.m. April 9, 2007, while Freeman was driving on Rifle Range Road on his way from a bar, Managing Assistant Solicitor Jennifer Kneece Shealy said. It was dark, and Freeman was driving without headlights.

The driver of an oncoming van couldn't see Freeman's car as she turned left onto Appling Drive, Shealy said. Freeman's car slammed into the van, and 67-year-old passenger Sigmund Schildcrout's arm was broken in the wreck, she said.

Another vehicle carrying a 9-year-old girl had to swerve to avoid the collision, Shealy said.

Freeman's blood alcohol level was .18, authorities said.