Weissinger pleads guilty to DUI

Former Douglas County Commissioner Steve Weissinger was sentenced Wednesday to 48 hours community service and fined $897 after he pleaded guilty to driving with an alcohol content twice the legal limit.

"I'd like to apologize to my wife who bears the burden of my last name and the community for letting them down," Weissinger said at a hearing in East Fork Justice Court.

Weissinger, 51, was arrested at 3:15 p.m. Feb. 1 by a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper who said he was speeding as he headed north on Highway 395 and changed lanes, cutting off another motorist.

His blood-alcohol content was .171, more than twice the legal limit of .08.

Weissinger said there was "no question" that he was intoxicated.

"I had been working out of my home and had several drinks," he told Judge Pro Tem Paul Gilbert. "Obviously, I made a mistake. That's why I am sitting here today."

In exchange for his guilty plea, the district attorney dropped charges of speeding, unsafe passing and failure to signal.

Weissinger said he was relocating from Gardnerville to San Diego and asked to be sentenced to community service instead of jail.

He offered to volunteer in San Diego with the Chamber of Commerce or a senior center.

Gilbert ordered him to complete the community service at a senior center within 60 days, but Weissinger said he would have it finished by the end of the month.

Weissinger said he had a couple of job prospects in San Diego which he expected to move forward next week.

He also was ordered to complete DUI school within 60 days and attend a victim impact panel in California or Nevada.

Weissinger's fine was taken from the $1,760 bail he posted at his arrest.

He was the Carson Valley Chamber of Commerce president-elect, but resigned after his arrest.

A former Douglas County commissioner, Weissinger pleaded no contest in 2003 to taking money from the Raley's supermarket in South Lake Tahoe where he was a manager and had worked 14 years.

Weissinger had maintained he accidentally pocketed a $100 bill, but the judge ordered him to pay $1,315 in restitution and spend 12 days in jail. He served eight days in jail and was released on good behavior.

He resigned his position on the board, and briefly considered running for re-election to his old seat a year later, but changed his mind.