--- description: A Houston man received a life sentence this week following his ninth drunk driving arrest, according to reports. title: Drunk Driving: Man Gets Life Sentence After 9th Arrest image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60c1e7dea21d0668/6988971b428a9e20edcd2f90/donald-middleton.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Houston Man Gets Life Sentence After 9th Drunk Driving Conviction  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jun 9, 2016 3:49 PM CUT  Donald Middleton, 56. Donald Middleton, 56.Montgomery County Sheriff's Office  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jun 9, 2016 3:49 PM CUT A Houston man received a life sentence this week following his ninth drunk driving arrest, according to [reports](http://montgomerycountypolicereporter.com/judge-give-man-life-for-9-dwis/ "undefined"). Donald Middleton, 56, hit a teenager’s pick up truck while intoxicated before fleeing the scene last year, according to a [report](http://montgomerycountypolicereporter.com/judge-give-man-life-for-9-dwis/ "undefined") by the Montgomery County Police Reporter. The sixteen-year-old accident victim, who happens to be the son of a county constable, escaped uninjured. Middleton’s history of driving under the influence began in 1980 when he was 20 years old. His punishment at the time was a $200 fine and 60 days in jail, according to a Houston _Chronicle_ [report](http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Ninth-DWI-sends-Houston-man-to-jail-for-the-rest-7970363.php "undefined"). He faced subsequent drunk driving charges in 1983, 1992, 1993, twice in 1997, 1999, and 2008 and always maintained a valid driver’s license. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4362598/houston-man-drunk-driving/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4362598/houston-man-drunk-driving/"},"headline":"Houston Man Gets Life Sentence After 9th Drunk Driving Conviction","datePublished":"2016-06-09T15:49:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:29:43.259Z","description":"But he still maintained a valid driver's license","url":"https://time.com/4362598/houston-man-drunk-driving/","keywords":["Texas"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60c1e7dea21d0668/6988971b428a9e20edcd2f90/donald-middleton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt60c1e7dea21d0668/6988971b428a9e20edcd2f90/donald-middleton.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald-Middleton","caption":"Donald Middleton","creditText":"Montgomery County Sheriff's Office","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4362598/houston-man-drunk-driving/","name":"Houston Man Gets Life Sentence After 9th Drunk Driving Conviction"}}]}] ```