NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. (WKTV) - An Oneida County man is headed back to jail for two years after pleading guilty to two DWI offenses in the same week.

Scott Hoffman, 40, of Rome, was convicted of DWI 12 years ago after the vehicle he was driving struck and killed John Hughes in the town of Kirkland. Hoffman was charged with misdemeanor DWI and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, a felony.

Hoffman was arrested in early December 2009 for DWI, and again a week later for the same charge.

According to Oneida County First-Assistant District Attorney Michael Coluzza, New York State law says a person is considered a second-felony offender if they are convicted of two felonies within 10 years.
That second-offender charge would carry a much stiffer penalty than the original charges.

However, it has been 12 years since Hoffman's last felony conviction

With that in mind, the district attorney's office explored the possibility as to whether the time Hoffman served for the 1998 conviction could be included when determining the length of time between convictions. If it could, Hoffman could have been charged as a second-felony offender.

Coluzza said that the law allows such an action for most felony offenses. However, Coluzza went on to say that whether this could be applied to Hoffman's DWI charges was something of a "gray area," and would have been a gamble if Hoffman was prosecuted as a second-felony offender.

"It would have gone up on appeal to be considered by an appellate level court," Coluzza said. "In this case, it would be the appellate division and they would ultimately issue an opinion. One of the possible outcomes could have been a reversal of his conviction."

Coluzza said that if the District Attorney's office took that gamble and won, and Hoffman was convicted of a second felony, he could have faced three to eight years in prison.

Hoffman will now serve two years in Oneida County Jail.