Stapleton driver gets 4G tab, jailtime for his wild drunken driving ride

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Stapleton man was sentenced yesterday to five days in jail, five years’ probation and ordered to pay $4,049 restitution for a felony drunken-driving conviction.
Ibrahim Bangura’s driver’s license also was revoked for a year and a half.

Ibrahim Bangura was sentenced on a felony DWI.

Bangura, who has a prior DWI conviction, was accused on Oct. 16 of hitting two cars and wrecking one, damaging utility poles and blowing through “numerous” red lights and stops signs, all while driving with a blood-alcohol content almost three times the legal limit.
The wild episode occurred around 5:30 a.m. in Sunnyside.
The Sierra Leone native, 22, pleaded guilty last month in state Supreme Court, St. George, to a top count of felony DWI after Justice Robert J. Collini promised his sentence.
In entering his plea, Bangura admitted to driving with a blood-alcohol content of at least .18 percent. The legal limit for driving while intoxicated is .08 percent. Prosecutors said a test showed his blood-alcohol content actually was .22 percent.
Bangura previously rejected plea deals that would have resulted in jail terms of 30 and 60 days.
Bangura, however, won’t spend a day behind bars, since he already has served his sentenced jail time while awaiting the case’s disposition.
But should he get in trouble anytime while on probation, he could be thrown behind bars for the maximum of one and a third to four years.
Defendants convicted of felony drunken driving can be sentenced to five years’ probation without jail.
The defendant was previously convicted of drunken driving two years ago on June 27, 2008, court papers said. He was fined and his license was revoked.
Bangura’s lawyer, Duane C. Felton, called the sentence “most appropriate,” given his client’s personal and family history and recent success in a substance-abuse program. In 2000, Bangura fled to the U.S. from his native land, which was embroiled in a bloody civil war.
Staying out of jail will let Bangura keep his job and pay the restitution he owes, added Felton.
Assistant District Attorneys Kelly Carroll and Adam Silberlight prosecuted the case for District Attorney Daniel Donovan.