ROBERT L. WOODS, d/o/b 11-17-1950, of Ridgedale, was sentenced on Thursday, July 25, 2013, to ten (10) years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for the class B felony of driving while intoxicated, in two (2) separate cases. Taney County Circuit Court Judge Mark Orr sentenced Woods after hearing arguments from both the defense and the Taney County Prosecutor’s Office, as there was no plea agreement as to what sentence Woods would receive on his felony cases.

On May 2, 2013, Woods appeared before Judge Orr and entered a guilty plea in one case to driving while intoxicated and possession of a controlled substance for an arrest on September 12, 2010, initiated by a Trooper from the Missouri State Highway Patrol. On May 2nd, Woods also entered a guilty plea to the charge of driving while intoxicated stemming from a September 21, 2010, arrest by a Branson Police officer. Driving while intoxicated, as a first offense, is normally a class B misdemeanor, and handled by the Associate Circuit Courts. However, because Woods had four or more intoxication-related traffic offenses, he was charged with a class B felony for being a “chronic” D.W.I. offender.

The range of punishment for a class B felony is not less than five (5) years in prison and not more than fifteen (15) years in prison. Woods was sentenced to ten (10) years for each of the two (2) driving while intoxicated charges, and seven (7) years for the possession of a controlled substance charge. All of those sentences were ordered by the court to be concurrent.