A drinking driver — whose blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when he struck a guardrail on a city street earlier this year — must pay a $4,000 fine.
The monetary penalty, double the mandatory minimum of $2,000, was imposed Thursday after Cory Sewell pleaded guilty to over 80.
Ontario Court Justice Robert Bigelow also prohibited the steelworker from getting behind the wheel for 12 months.
The court heard city police officers, patrolling McNabb Street in the early evening hours of Jan. 26, came across a single-vehicle collision at Algoma Avenue.
A bystander waved down the cops.
They found a 2018 Dodge Ram with front-end damage — the tire on the passenger side had been torn off during the collision, prosecutor David Didiodato said.
The driver's door was open and he was walking around the vehicle.
Sewell's speech was slurred, he was unsteady on his feet, had alcohol on his breath and had difficulty locating his documents in the vehicle.
The 38-year-old registered a fail during a roadside breath test.
At the police station, breathalyzer samples recorded readings of 170 and 180 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
Noting Sewell had no prior record, Didiodato said the Crown was seeking the elevated fine because of the collision, the danger he posed, and the high readings.
Defence lawyer Anthony Orazietti said his client is also making a $1,000 charitable donation as part of the resolution.
Sewell, a member of Batchewana First Nation and an Algoma Steel employee, hasn't had a drop of alcohol since the incident.
"I don't expect to see him back here," Orazietti said.
Bigelow gave him 18 months to pay the fine.