Repeat drunken driver sentenced for wrong-way driving

A 46-year-old Westerly man with a lengthy history of drunken driving that includes a negligent homicide conviction will serve six months in prison and 18 months probation for driving the wrong way on the Route 2 overpass near Foxwoods Resort Casino.

It is the fifth drunken driving conviction for James M. Pratt. He had pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless endangerment, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and reckless driving. His appearance this morning before Judge Kevin P. McMahon was brief, since the judge was simply lifting a stay that had been imposed when he was initially sentenced in August.

Pratt's repeat offenses over more than 26 years have angered the survivors of Billy Collins, who was just 19 years old when Pratt's car slammed into his motorcycle in North Stonington. In April, just a few days after the anniversary of Collins death, Pratt was charged in the wrong-way incident and did not hold a valid driver's license. Learning of Pratt's history, Judge Kevin P. McMahon had increased Pratt's bond to $99,000 cash and sent him to prison, where Pratt has remained while his case was pending.