GRAND ISLE (WGNO) – A Grand Isle commercial fisherman convicted six times for driving under the influence was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for his most recent conviction.
Rockey Burnham, 44, was found guilty of his second fourth-offense DUI on April 20. Fourth-offense DUI is the most serious offense available to prosecutors under Louisiana law, according to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office.
Burnham was arrested on April 28, 2015, after he crashed a boat he was piloting into moored vessels and the shrimp dock owned by Dean Blanchard Seafood.
He denied being under the influence and claimed the boat he was driving suffered mechanical problems.
State agents found that Burnham did poorly on the field sobriety test, leading to blood work that yielded the presence of diazepam, nordiazepam and methamphetamine, according to evidence presented at the trial.
Because he was on probation at the time of his last arrest, Burnham faces an additional seven years if his probation is revoked.
His last conviction before this year’s was in 2011 for driving a trawler without authorization while under the influence of alcohol and crystal methamphetamine, crashing it into a dock.
He pleaded guilty to DUI, unauthorized use of a movable and simple criminal damage to property.
As part of the plea arrangement in that case, a judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison but suspended five of those years.
He also was sentenced to two years in prison in 2011 for two narcotics-related offenses. He separately has DUI convictions in East Baton Rouge and Lafourche parishes, in addition to Jefferson Parish convictions.