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Alleged DUI could nullify woman’s plea

The District Attorney’s Office may yank a plea deal offered to a local real estate broker accused of providing alcohol to minors because she was recently cited for a “DUI-type offense,” officials said Monday.

Wendy Lucas was set to be sentenced Monday in Pitkin County District Court after pleading guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge of providing alcohol to a minor. The charge was based on video surveillance from the Belly Up in June showing her giving cocktails to her underage daughter and her daughter’s friends.

However, before the sentencing could begin Monday, prosecutor Sarah Oszczakiewicz asked District Judge Chris Seldin to continue the hearing to a future date because Lucas was recently cited for DUI in Eagle County. That citation may violate terms of her plea agreement, which could mean the DA will withdraw the plea, she said.



Lucas’ lawyer, Lawson Wills, confirmed that Lucas was “cited last week for a DUI-type offense” in Eagle County, but asked Seldin to go forward with Monday’s sentencing because the two incidents were not related. Wills said the stop was “based on weaving,” but that Lucas contests an officer’s contention that she was intoxicated.

“It has nothing to do with (the June) incident,” he said. “Nothing indicates she was intoxicated at the time (of the June incident).”




Seldin continued the sentencing, saying the prosecution has the right to argue the DUI nullified the plea.

Lucas was pulled over Sept. 2 on Highway 82 by a Basalt police officer, said Basalt Police Sgt. Joe Gasper.

Details of the incident were not available Monday, but Lucas was charged with a lane usage violation and DUI, Gasper said. 

Wills said Lucas submitted a blood test as part of the DUI citation, though results were not yet available.

Lucas was initially charged with felony contributing to the delinquency of a minor for the incident with her daughter at Belly Up. Her misdemeanor plea last month meant she faced as many as 18 months in the Pitkin County Jail.

jauslander@aspentimes.com