Crime & Safety
Ex-Con Given Probation After Fleeing From Cops Drunk
Kyle Soukup — who served time for manslaughter — was given five years probation, time served and a year without a license after pleading guilty to felony charges.
An ex-convict and parolee who was arrested in July in Southampton Village for driving without a license drunk and fleeing police was sentenced on Wednesday to five years of probation, plus the time he served during his trial.
According to court records, Kyle Soukup, 27, of Nassau County, pleaded guilty on Dec. 4 to two felonies, two misdemeanors and a handful of traffic violations.
On Wednesday, State Supreme Court Justice William Condon handed down a sentence at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, revoking Soukup's license for one year and, according to Newsday, placing him in an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation facility for the first 28 days of his release.
Find out what's happening in Southamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
According to the State Department of Corrections, Soukup served two and a half years in prison from 2005 to 2007 after being convicted of manslaughter in the second degree and second-degree assault. A 2002 New York Times article stated that Soukup, along with another teen, were drag racing their cars one night when they struck an engaged couple in Muttontown, killing both.
Robert Clifford, the spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney, said in July that the most recent suspension of Soukup's license, according to DMV records, had previously been April 28, 2011, when he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DWI in New York County Criminal Court. He was sentenced to three years of probation with alcohol treatment conditions and fined $750.
Find out what's happening in Southamptonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Soukup's previous problems behind the wheel had prosecutors calling for a harsher punishment, Newsday reported.
"I have no reason to believe he'll succeed in probation," Assistant District Attorney Nancy Clifford was reported as saying, calling for one and a third to four years in prison. "The community needs to be protected from Kyle Soukup."
Newsday reported that Condon said Soukup would be under state supervision for a longer timeframe with the probationary punishment.
"If you mess up on probation, there's really no discussion," Condon reportedly told Soukup.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
