Scarborough Town Councilor Judith Roy has accepted a plea deal in her drunken driving case that allowed her to avoid jail time.
Roy, 68, had been charged with both operating under the influence and a separate count of operating under the influence with a blood alcohol content of 0.15 percent, which carries a mandatory penalty of two days in jail.
Under the plea agreement, Roy entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge and the more serious one was dismissed. She was fined $500 and her license was suspended for 90 days starting Jan. 13, the date she accepted the arrangement.
Roy’s blood-alcohol tested at 0.16, according to Assistant District Attorney William Berry. Because of the test’s margin of error, the prosecution may not have been able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that her blood-alcohol was at that level, he said.
“It’s an offer we make to anybody with a 0.16 unless there’s a crash or injury,” Berry said Wednesday.
Roy was charged in connection with a Sept. 17 incident. A motorist reported an erratic driver on Black Point Road in Scarborough and that the car’s body was damaged. The reporting motorist followed Roy to her home, where a police officer met up with them. Police have said Roy was taken to the town police station after she pulled into her driveway. She was issued a court summons and was not booked at the county jail. The damage to her car was from an unrelated fender-bender earlier in the day, according to police.
Roy could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
In the week following the incident, Roy offered apologies to Scarborough residents, family, friends and fellow councilors. She did not attend the Town Council meeting a few days after the incident, saying she felt physically and emotionally ill.
Roy has been on the council since 2007. She also served from 1990 to 1999.
At the time of the drunken driving incident, Roy was Town Council chairwoman. She has been vice chair since December. The Town Council votes on a chair and vice chair following an election.
Town Council Chairman Ronald Ahlquist said Roy, whom he described as a very good chair, was uncomfortable about seeking the post again because of her legal situation. He said he volunteered to step up — on the condition that she be vice chair.
“We all make mistakes. She made a mistake and she paid for that,” he said.
Councilor Karen D’Andrea said hasn’t seen any evidence of Roy’s situation affecting the Town Council’s work.
“Certainly, if she had run for chair again, I think the OUI could have been a distraction for the Council,” D’Andrea said. “So, I think she made a good decision.”
D’Andrea said she had voted for Council Carol Rancourt for vice chair because she wouldn’t have felt right voting for Roy when she had just nominated Rancourt for chair.
The code of ethics for the Town Council does not address criminal convictions.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
