Logan man sentenced to prison after fifth DUI conviction

Booking photo for Luke Winton (Courtesy: Cache County Jail)

LOGAN — A 59-year-old Logan man is headed for prison after admitting to driving drunk for the fifth time in three years. Winton Luke was given the maximum sentence Tuesday, after a judge said the defendant was lucky that he hasn’t killed someone yet with his vehicle.

Luke was sentenced during a virtual hearing 1st District Court, appearing by web conference from jail. He previously pleaded guilty to one count of driving under the influence, a third-degree felony.

December 30, Luke was pulled over by Logan City police after he showed signs of impairment. Toxicology tests later confirmed his blood alcohol level was above the legal state limit. He was booked into the Cache County Jail, where he has been held without bail.

During Tuesday’s sentencing, public defender Mike McGinnis said Luke has a serious drinking problem. He asked the court to sentence the defendant to jail instead, and require treatment for his alcohol addiction.

Luke spoke through a Marshallese interpreter, promising not to drink and drive again. He said, he didn’t want to go to prison and would try really hard to sober up.

Cache County Deputy Attorney Clark Harms told the court, Luke had been arrested five times for driving under the influence during the past three years, the last arrest occurring while he was already on probation for two prior felony convictions. He said the defendant had been given every opportunity to change, and prison was the only way to protect the public.

Judge Angela Fonnesbeck agreed with Harms, expressing concern for Luke’s substance abuse problems. She said it appeared the defendant was either unwilling or unable to address his problems, putting himself and the public in danger.

Luke was sentenced to serve three concurrent terms of zero-to-five years in prison. The exact length of time will be determined by the Utah State Board of Pardons and Parole.


[email protected]

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

3 Comments

  • I care March 2, 2021 at 4:59 pm Reply

    Addiction is a real thing. Some people do not hit their own personal bottom. The bottom is where real things change. I send healing to this man, I know he does great and good things sometimes. Sometimes he is sober, then he can’t be sober anymore. The dis-ease he feels inside only he can fix. He can fix it if the legal substance he abuses, is not available freely at any store he walks into. I am sorry this is where he is forced into a bottom.
    I don’t know this man personally. I know his dis-ease, I have had my own people die from this issue, so going to prison is saving his life. His family will know where he is and not worry about him on the daily.
    I hope he can get into a program in prison that can help him, and get him to the man he can be.
    I for one will pray for his healing ,so he can live the rest of his life free of dis-ease. He will be with himself in reflection for a good bit of time. He will have much to think about, his depression will emerge and the dark night of the soul will happen.(google it)
    To his family, Please hit an alanon meeting. You that love him and know who he really is, and have seen this happen to him need your own support system. and your own healing.
    I will give bless ups and hope that he can turn this bottom into something super awesome!

  • justice4all March 3, 2021 at 9:16 am Reply

    My concern is why did it take 5 times before he was sent to prison? The comment “At least he didn’t kill somone… ” is shameful! That shouldn’t be the conditions for being sent to jail! Why is DUI not treated as a deadly weapon? It is just as dangerous as a gun, knife etc.

    • Ttunac March 3, 2021 at 5:56 pm Reply

      Texting and phone use should be charged as impaired driving. Plenty of studies have shown the degradation of awareness/reaction time similar to, if not surpassing, the public safety concerns associated with the DUI.

Leave a Reply to justice4all Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.