Provenza gets 90 days in jail
Brad Dicken | The Chronicle-Telegram
LAKEWOOD — Lorain Law Director Mark Provenza stood with his head bowed as he was sentenced Monday to 90 days in jail for an August drunken driving crash.
A subdued Provenza apologized to the owners of the Lakewood home he rammed with his wife’s minivan, saying he prayed each day for them.
“I am truly sorry,” he said.
But Chad and Jeanette Henderson weren’t ready to accept it.
“There’s not a word that he could say to me,” Jeanette Henderson said after the hearing. “I would never believe him after he ruined my sense of safety.”
Lakewood Municipal Court Judge Patrick Carroll also didn’t seem to believe Provenza’s insistence that he had learned from his latest brush with the law, pointing out that he had made similar promises the last time he got a DUI in Lakewood in 2000.
“How many times are you going to stand before a judge and say ‘I’ve learned my lesson. It won’t happen again?’ ” Carroll asked Provenza.
Provenza acknowledged that he had made mistakes after his previous DUI convictions.
“I’m doing everything I wasn’t doing before,” he told Carroll. “I though I could do it on my own. I was horribly wrong.”
In addition to his prior conviction in Lakewood on a DUI charge after his car hit a fire hydrant, Provenza also was convicted in 2004 and spent five days in the Bay Village City Jail after pleading no contest to drunken driving charges after Bay Village police stopped his weaving car as he drove home from a Browns game.
Provenza also had been charged with DUI in Parma Heights in 2000, but pleaded that charge down to reckless operation.
His latest DUI came Aug. 20, when he rammed the Hendersons’ front porch while driving home from downtown Cleveland, where he had been drinking. After striking the house, Provenza drove away and was later pulled over and arrested by Lakewood police officers.
Provenza said before the hearing that he turned to drinking in August to deal with a personal issue but refused to elaborate.
“I dealt with something that day, and (alcohol) was really not the right way to deal with it,” he said.
The Hendersons had asked Carroll to give Provenza the maximum sentence of one year in jail on the DUI, leaving the scene of an accident, reckless operation and failure to wear a seat belt charges he pleaded no contest to in October.
But Carroll said he didn’t hand down the maximum because then he couldn’t have imposed additional sanctions on Provenza, who will remain on probation for five years during which time he will have to wear an ankle bracelet that monitors his system for alcohol. His driver’s license also was suspended for five years.
Carroll also ordered Provenza to pay nearly $1,400 in fines and reimburse the Hendersons for a $700 therapy bill and the $500 deductible they had to pay their insurance company for the repairs being done to their home, which they plan to sell because they are moving out of the area.
Jeanette Henderson said part of the reason for the move was fear of Provenza and other drunken drivers even when they were in their own home.
“Your honor, we don’t want him to kill someone next time,” Chad Henderson said during the hearing.
Provenza also will have to continue attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as well as continue to receive addiction counseling, Carroll said. He must also write a letter of apology to the Hendersons, and his wife must send a letter to the court acknowledging that he no longer has a driver’s license.
After the sentencing, Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko called for Provenza’s resignation, something he said he’s asked the long-time law director for in private as well.
But Provenza refused to address whether he would remain on the job once he starts serving his jail sentence on Dec. 29.
“I’m taking everything day by day,” he said Monday. “I’m going to go to work tomorrow.”
Krasienko said Provenza’s resignation would be the best thing for the city, but the decision rests with Provenza, who is an elected official and can’t be fired.
“I can call for his resignation all I want, but ultimately there’s no way I can force it,” Krasienko said.
Before the hearing, Provenza, who knew he would receive at least 10 days in jail, said the Law Department would continue to function while he was incarcerated.
But the department will be shorthanded.
Assistant Law Director Jim Walther will become a county judge on Feb. 9, about halfway through Provenza’s jail stint, and Provenza said Monday that he was considering not replacing Walther in an effort to save the city money.
Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.
| |
|
Filed by Brad Dicken | The Chronicle-Telegram December 2nd, 2008 in Top Stories. Popularity: 3% |
 Email this story
 Print this story
Read comments and discuss this story
Report an innappropriate comment
|
In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement
and discussion guidelines.
You must be registered and logged in to post a comment. If you aren't already registered, click here. If you are registered, click here to log in.
Comments
Comment from
xfiles
December 2, 2008, 3:08 am
If this was you or me, we would have gone to jail and had our license taken away a long time ago.
It is outrageous that Provenza will not resign. Why should he be handing out punishments to others when he is guilty himself?
We do not need drunks in any city office and that includes city council. What an example these people are setting for the community. The world has gone to the dogs. Lorain, Ohio once a great city is now just a joke. We have a joke Law Director, a joke Mayor and a joke Police Department.
What has the city of Lorain done for the tax money it collects? Not a hell of alot. We still have huge potholes here on the East side of Lorain. Think maybe we can get those fixed Mr. Mayor? Oh, thats right - you spent the money redoing your street. What a JOKE this town is!
And YES, if I could sell my house, I would move.
Comment from
Jackie
December 2, 2008, 7:14 am
I dont know the protocol for this situation but it seems to me that he wouldnt have a choice. Now he has been convicted, not just charged, but convicted so that pretty much takes him out of the box. I think…..
Comment from
Jackie
December 2, 2008, 7:15 am
…I think he can save face if he resigns, but if they have to PUT him out, then that is when he will lose everything monetary involved with that job. I’m not sure, but it may work that way as some do.
Comment from
johnbear
December 2, 2008, 7:42 am
You folks are not too bright if you think this is over. As Law director, he has access to a lot of records with info on everyone, including the Democratic leaders in this city. He may resign, but not until the Dems find him another gravy position in the legal field somewhere in the county.
If he does leave, he will be given pay and benefits that are greater than most of us make in a couple of years. He will also be paid for his jail time in Lakewood and the only thing he may lose is the Chivas Regal. If the election for Law Director in Lorain was held next Tuesday, he would be put back iinto office unanimously.
Comment from
Mrs. Waldman
December 2, 2008, 10:04 am
Just resign and get yourself into a treatment program.
Comment from
JZ
December 2, 2008, 7:48 pm
Ooh Ooh, I can,t sleep at night ever since somebody ran into my porch. Every t ime I hear a car I flinch. I have to move now, Maybe amish country where there are only horses and buggies. Should we file our lawsuit now or after a couple years of therapy?
Write a Comment