Man's 21st DUI arrest gets him 10 years in jail

HAMILTON — A Mason man won’t be getting behind the wheel anytime soon after being sent to prison for his 21st drunk driving offense.

Kevin Ante, 45, of Mason, was sentenced today, March 3, by Judge Michael Sage in Butler County Common Pleas Court. He received 10 years in prison and a lifetime driver’s license suspension, the maximum sentence permitted under Ohio law, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.

Ante was released in September 2009 from a four-year prison sentence he received for his last drunk driving conviction in 2006, officials said. He was arrested again in the early morning hours of Dec. 13, when a West Chester Twp. police officer pulled him over on Ohio 42 near Butler-Warren Road, officials said.

Butler County Prosecutor Robin Piper said Ante has been incarcerated numerous times for driving drunk and he deserves the maximum sentence.

“Obviously this guy wasn’t going to stop drinking and driving on his own. It is a miracle that Ante hasn’t killed himself or someone else while driving intoxicated over the years,” Piper said.

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