WESTLOCK – An Edmonton man who nearly caused a head-on crash on Highway 44 in May 2016 with a blood-alcohol level approaching three times the legal limit, faces a heavy fine and year-long driving ban.
Appearing in Westlock Provincial Court May 11 via the phone, Sheldon Jeremy Kozowy, 46, pleaded guilty to driving with a blood alcohol level over .08, while two counts of failing to comply with an order and a charge of impaired driving were withdrawn.
Judge Michèle Collinson agreed to a joint-sentence submission that’ll see Kozowy pay a $2,000 fine and have his driver’s licence suspended for a year. The judge did not impose a victim-fine surcharge and will allow Kozowy to apply immediately to the Interlock program — Crown prosecutor Anthony Estephan noted a dated criminal record but did not tender it to Judge Collinson.
Kozowy, a father of two adult children, admitted to the crime and said that “I want to put this behind me and move forward with my life and not be in trouble with the justice system.”
“It’s certainly not an early guilty plea, it’s almost six years to the day (of the offence date) and it appears that the delays in a large part were at your feet. But I do take the guilty plea at this stage as mitigating because it does show now that you’re prepared to take accountability and be held responsible for your actions,” said Judge Collinson. “Your words are showing some remorse and regret for your actions and a desire to live a better life and demonstrate to your children that you can be a good parent and be someone they can look up to and respect.”
Crown prosecutor Anthony Estephan told court at around 7:57 p.m., May 13, 2016, police got a call that a red Chevrolet Silverado “was all over the road” heading south on Highway 44 near Fawcett.
“A second complaint came in at 8:08 p.m. regarding the same vehicle passing at high speeds and a third complaint at 8:16 noted that it almost caused a head-on collision near Pibroch,” said Estephan.
Police eventually caught up with Kozowy when he stopped on Highway 44 and Township Road 610. Estephan said Kozowy put the truck into reverse and almost struck the cruiser and was told to put it into park and turn off the engine.
“He showed gross signs of impairment. A three-quarter full bottle of vodka was located in the truck,” said Estephan.
Back at the detachment Kozowy provided two samples of his breath which revealed a blood alcohol level of .210 milligrams per cent, well beyond the legal limit of .08.
