Man gets prison for DUI crash that disabled, disfigured woman

May 30--$173,751.34 in restitution ordered

GULFPORT -- A judge has sentenced a man to a 20-year prison term for driving impaired in a crash that disabled and disfigured a woman.

Circuit Judge Roger Clark sentenced Nicholas Alan Patry, 28, on Thursday. Clark suspended eight years, leaving 12 to serve, and ordered five years of post-release supervision.

The judge also ordered Patry to make restitution of $173,751.34.

A Harrison County jury found him guilty March 26. Assistant District Attorney Mitch Owen said Patry's blood-alcohol level was 0.15, nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08, after the crash Dec. 3, 2011.

Cynthia Grammer, now 44, was about to start college to study nursing. She had quit her long-term job at a gas station and was working part-time as an IHOP waitress. She was hit while driving home from work about 4:45 a.m.

Patry, then a Seabee, testified he had been drinking beer and shooting pool at a friend's house,

but said he wasn't too drunk to drive. He said he had taken a nap.

His vehicle crossed the center line on County Farm Road near James Bond Road and hit Grammer's car.

"I can remember seeing headlights in my lane, hitting the brakes and that's it," Grammer said Thursday.

She had broken bones in a leg and an arm and required surgery for cuts on her face. She also suffered brain damage that affects her memory.

Her husband, a truck driver, had just added her to his medical insurance, but it hadn't yet taken effect. He quit his job and took a lower-paying local job. After she was released from a hospital, their teenage daughter bathed Grammer and prepared her food before going to school each day.

Grammer now walks with the use of a cane.

"This should tell people they should always make plans so they don't have to drive if they drink," she said. "Once people start to drink, they think they're OK to drive when they are not."

Prosecutors asked the judge to give Patry a substantial prison term.

"Even to this day, Nicholas Patry has yet to accept full responsibility for his actions," ADA Patti Simpson said.

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