Abbeville woman sentenced to 15 years for 7th DWI

Connie LeGrand, 49, won’t be getting behind the wheel of a vehicle intoxicated for a few years.
Judge Durwood Conque sentenced LeGrand to 15 years in prison with no chance of parole after she was arrested two years ago for driving drunk. She received her seventh DWI ticket in Louisiana.
LeGrand, in 1995, had a DWI in Georgia to give her a total of eight.
After a 90-minute presentencing hearing on Tuesday, Judge Conque sentenced her. He said in the many years of being a district judge, he could not remember ever sentencing someone with seven DWIs.
By law, he had to sentence her no less than 10 years and no more than 30 years.
“You have run out of chances,” Conque told her.
Two years ago, she was arrested after driving her car three times over the legal limit.
LeGrand was involved in a two-car accident along La. 82. Her blood-alcohol level tested .263 percent. To be considered intoxicated, your blood level has to be 0.008
According to court records, LeGrand was driving a Ford Escort that crossed the centerline in the eastbound lane.
Brooks David, the state police officer who worked the accident, said in his police report that LeGrand’s speech was slurred and she had a hard time keeping her balance.
Conque said she was lucky she has never injured anyone in an accident while she was intoxicated.
Before sentencing occurred, her attorney, Louis Garrot, had two experts testify on her behalf as to why she drank so heavily.
nd abuse explained to Judge Conque they came to the conclusion that LeGrand was abused as a child and was in a bad relationship for most of her adult life. She was also diagnosed with post traumatic syndrome, which caused her to drink.
Judge Conque said he understood how she could drink because of the trauma in her life, but what he did not understand is why she continued to drive a vehicle while drinking.
“She has been convicted of seven DWIs,” Conque said. “I would not guess as to how many times she has gotten behind the wheel and not gotten caught. This indicates to me she has a serious problem with not only drinking, but combining getting into an automobile, which is classified as a weapon.”

History of her DWIs

Getting DWI tickets is nothing new for LeGrand. She got two DWI tickets in 1999. The sentencing for her second DWI ticket was 240 hours community service and she attended substance abuse program.
LeGrand did not get another DWI ticket until six years later in 2005. Instead of getting sentenced for one, she got sentenced for two DWI tickets -making it her third and fourth DWI.
On her fourth DWI charge, she pled guilty and received a 10-year sentence, with all but 60 days suspended. She served 60 days in jail without parole or probation.
LeGrand continued to drink and drive despite serving time in jail.
Only a few months after getting out of jail, LeGrand received another DWI ticket in Vermilion Parish.
According court records, it showed it was her fourth DWI. Over a nine-month period, LeGrand was given two Fourth DWI tickets. She pled guilty and she was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but all but one year was suspended.