Back to the slammer for DUI Killer Kelli Loos
Kelli Loos, of 227 Garden Gate Lane in Annapolis, Md., who killed two men on the Washington Beltway after she had belted down a bottle of wine at the Hamburger Hamlet in Bethesda, Md., has been sent back to jail after she set off the ignition interlock for the third time. The following is an excellent article that appeared in the Washington Post which gives the background and a report on the latest on this killer. Loos was sentenced by Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Louise Scrivener to ten years in prison for manslaughter and then set free on parole as the parole board didn’t consider her crime, under Maryland law, to be violent. The Maryland General Assembly is populated by DUI drivers and DUI criminal defense attorney’s who resist efforts to strengthen DUI laws and killers like Kelli Loos behind bars where they can’t kill again.
Kelli Loos convicted of double DWI fatal in Fairfax Va in 2009. 3rd
From The Washington Post
“I don’t know what to do with you. I truly don’t,” an exasperated judge told Kelli Loos, 40, during a hearing in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
Judge Joseph Dugan ordered Loos held without bond for 90 days, at which point he will bring her back for sentencing. Loos and her attorney are advocating she go to a treatment program. Prosecutors want incarceration.
After tripping the device last year, Loos of Annapolis claimed that Altoids breath mints caused the device to indicate alcohol infractions. In court Wednesday, she abandoned the mint claims.
“I made poor decisions,” she told Dugan, adding, “I need help.”
Her case has taken on new resonance in a state in which some lawmakers are pushing to toughen drunken-driving laws and penalties.
Two of the legislative proposals in Maryland: Raise the maximum sentence for vehicular manslaughter convictions, like those in the 2009 Loos case; and require anyone convicted of drunken-driving to install an interlock device, not just those drivers who exceed certain thresholds.
[‘We must put technology between all offenders and their cars’]
Loos was paroled from prison in 2013, after serving four years of a 10-year sentence. She later was permitted to drive as long as she first blew into an interlock.
At least three times, the device halted her from starting her car when she was legally drunk, prosecutors said. One of the readings was a 0.16, which is twice the legal limit.
“Here she is: She’s back,” prosecutor Mark Anderson said in court Wednesday. “The interlock works or else she’d be driving around at these levels. These levels are ridiculous.”
Loos, a graduate of Virginia Tech University who had worked as a meeting planner, stood for much of the hearing on Wednesday, wiping away tears. Dugan ruled that she violated her probation for two reasons: Drinking, and trying to drive after drinking. MORE
The 2009 crash devastated the families of two men: Gradys Mendoza and Franklin Manzanares.
Parole Board Chairman told The Post they have to consider all factors!
Because the crimes to which Loos pleaded guilty are considered “nonviolent” under Maryland rules, she became eligible for parole consideration after serving 25 percent of her sentence.
In July 2013, Loos was paroled, having served roughly 40 percent of her sentence. At her parole hearing, Loos was able to show a record of good behavior behind bars, presented herself as remorseful and took responsibility for the crime, said David R. Blumberg, chairman of the Maryland Parole Commission.
“We have to balance all factors, and we try to make our best judgment,” he said.
