Rockingham County Commissioner Keith Mabe pled guilty to two driving while impaired charges, but charges of reckless driving, possession of two prescription medications and driving left of center were dismissed:
Through his attorney, Mabe apologized to his family, to drivers he may have endangered and for shame he caused. It was the first time Mabe expressed regret since his arrest on the first of two charges of driving while intoxicated in Dec. 2014.
“He is here accepting responsibility for his actions,” Mabe’s attorney Wayne Hollowell said in Rockingham County Superior Court. “He is sorry for the embarrassment he’s caused his family, for putting other drivers in danger and bringing shame to his county.”
Question now is whether Mabe will serve jail time—-max is six years, minimum seven days. Mabe’s attorney said Mabe will seek inpatient treatment and hopes Judge Susan Bray will take that into consideration as “a last-ditch effort to avoid jail time.”
Other question of course is whether or not Mabe will resign —-which he has steadfastly refused to do despite repeated calls from fellow county commissioners and the public to do so.
