Soffredine pleads guilty

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Traverse City police officer Joseph Soffredine, left, pleads guilty to impaired driving Tuesday in 86th District Court. At right is his attorney, Clarence Gomery. Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump

May 26, 2010

He retains job, license and will return to road patrol duty Thursday

BY ALEX PIAZZA apiazza@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Wed May 26, 2010, 08:33 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — A last-minute guilty plea to impaired driving won't cost Traverse City police officer Joseph L. Soffredine his job or driving privileges.

Soffredine, 38, pleaded guilty Tuesday in 86th District Court to driving while impaired by alcohol, hours before jury selection was slated to begin in his trial for drunken driving. Judge John D. Foresman sentenced Soffredine to six months probation and four days of community service.

He's also expected to pay more than $1,000 in court fines and costs.

"It's my fault, it's my responsibility," Soffredine said in court. "I'm the only one to blame here. I apologize to the citizens of this community that I love so much."

Traverse City Police Chief Mike Warren won't further discipline Soffredine, who was suspended four weeks without pay in late February, weeks after he crashed and burned his Dodge Durango early Feb. 7 off Cedar Run Road in Garfield Township.

Soffredine is scheduled to work road patrol on Thursday.

"I'm not taking him off the schedule," said Warren, who succeeded Soffredine's father, Ralph, as Traverse City's police chief. Ralph Soffredine is a Traverse City commissioner and a candidate for the Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners.

Joseph Soffredine crashed his SUV into a ditch after a night of drinking in Traverse City. About an hour before the crash, he grabbed a man by the shirt and shoved him against a bar stool at the House of Doggs restaurant on Union Street.

Grand Traverse Sheriff's Deputies Robert Sillers and Mark Noffke responded to the crash, but didn't administer field sobriety or preliminary breath tests on Soffredine. The deputies also failed to cite Soffredine for driving with expired license plates, a decision that this month prompted their terminations.

They acknowledged they didn't test Soffredine for alcohol or cite him for traffic infractions because he was a fellow police officer.

Soffredine apologized to the two ex-deputies, who were sentenced Tuesday after they entered guilty pleas for neglecting to perform the duties of a public officer.

"I knew he was contemplating a plea because he just didn't want to drag any more people through this," said Warren, who found out about the deal on Monday night.

Grand Traverse County Prosecutor Alan Schneider last month charged Soffredine with operating while intoxicated; Soffredine on Tuesday rejected his attorney's advice and agreed to the impaired deal.

"I was prepared to pick a jury today," said Clarence Gomery, Soffredine's attorney. "I don't believe they ever would've been able to convict him. He thought it was in the best interest to put an end to this. I think nobody wins in this case."

Terms of Soffredine's probation require him to avoid alcohol, drugs and bars altogether, court records show. Warren refused to comment on whether Soffredine will continue substance abuse treatment.

Impaired driving is punishable by up to 93 days in jail, but Foresman said he won't spend a day behind bars.

"I think the fact that you're acknowledging this in open court is a positive step," Foresman said. "I'm hopeful that this is a low point in your life."

Impaired driving is punishable by four points on a driving record, license restrictions for 90 days and $1,000 in driver responsibility fees, Michigan Secretary of State officials said. Soffredine would have lost his license for 30 days if a jury had found him guilty of operating while intoxicated.

Traverse City police plan to take steps to overcome negative publicity prompted by Soffredine's case, which Warren expects will be no easy task.

"Everyone's on notice that these types of things are not going to be violated," said Warren, who acknowledged the public may well scrutinize Soffredine because of his impaired driving conviction. "I knew it could be an issue, but he's going to have to deal with that as it happens."