Gulfport man’s seventh DUI means 7 years behind bars

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - A Gulfport man who has already been convicted of at least six DUIs in Harrison County is going to prison after pleading guilty to yet another felony DUI charge.

John Richard Langston, 50, was sentenced this week to seven years behind bars. Since he’s considered a habitual offender, he’ll have to serve each day of that sentence without the possibility of parole.

The night of August 16, 2017, Gulfport Police stopped Langston for speeding in the area of Highway 90 and Hewes Avenue. When Langston started talking, the officer immediately smelled alcohol on his breath and asked him to take a breathalyzer test. Langston refused, and said he had a disability that prevented him from being able to perform other field sobriety tests.

The officer said Langston initially denied he had been drinking, but later changed his story and admitted he had multiple beers prior to the traffic stop.

“Based on the observation by the officer and the admission by the defendant, a search warrant for his blood was obtained and his blood was drawn at Memorial Hospital. The blood was tested by the Mississippi Crime Lab and it was determined that Langston’s blood alcohol level was .139% which is above the .08% illegal limit,” said Assistant District Attorney Mitch Owen, who prosecuted the case.

At his guilty plea, Langston admitted to drinking about six beers before getting behind the wheel of his vehicle to drive.

The fact that Langston was previously convicted of two prior felony DUIs in his lifetime allowed for the state to prosecute him as a habitual offender, which in turn requires him to serve a mandatory sentence without the possibility of early release.