SHREVEPORT, La. - United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that Kathleen Larsen Coker, 51, of Minden, La., was sentenced Monday before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to two years in prison and three years of supervised release with conditions of treatment for driving while intoxicated. She was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
According to evidence presented at the guilty plea, Coker drove a truck into a security bollard outside the East Gate of Barksdale Air Force Base at 5:10 a.m. on Nov. 18, 2012. Her blood alcohol level registered at.168 when measured at 7:27 a.m. The legal blood alcohol concentration limit on Barskdale Air Force Base is.08. The defendant had three prior convictions for driving while intoxicated in the last 10 years. The first conviction was on Nov. 16, 2005 in Minden City Court; the second conviction was on March 27, 2007 in 26th Judicial District Court in Webster Parish; and the third conviction was April 7, 2010 in 2nd Judicial District Court in Claiborne Parish. Coker pleaded guilty on March 11, 2013.
“This defendant will spend two years in prison because she made the mistake of drinking and driving," Finley stated. “She put the lives of everyone who traveled the roads in danger and damaged Barksdale Air Force Base property, which was a cost to taxpayers. Hopefully this case serves as a deterrent to anyone thinking of drinking and getting behind the wheel."
The Department of the Air Force Police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Allison D. Bushnell prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
