PINE CITY, Minn. — A high-profile Twin Cities personal injury attorney has struck a plea deal after investigators said he struck a road worker with his vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
Court documents show James Patrick Carey pleaded guilty in Pine County District Court to a single charge of gross misdemeanor criminal vehicular operation involving bodily harm while driving under the influence. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop three other charges involving the Oct. 6, 2023 incident.
As part of the agreement, Carey will receive a sentence of 364 days in jail, four of which he has already served. The remaining 360 days will be stayed, meaning Carey will not serve them unless he is charged with DWI or criminal vehicular operation in the near future. He will also be ordered to complete 80 days of community service and pay a $900 fine plus surcharge.
State Troopers were dispatched to a scene on I-35 near mile marker 182 in Pine County on Oct. 6, 2023 after reports that a vehicle had struck a pedestrian on the shoulder of the heavily-traveled interstate. The victim, a road construction worker, told troopers he was removing construction cones and walking along the left shoulder of northbound I-35 when he was hit.
A witness on the scene told investigators an SUV driving in the construction zone in front of her tried to pass slow-moving traffic by veering onto the shoulder, and said she saw that driver hit the construction worker.
That witness told troopers the vehicle that struck the victim didn't stop, but left the scene and drove north. A Carlton County deputy soon located a 2016 GMC Acadia at mile marker 217 that was missing its driver-side mirror. The driver was identified as 64-year-old James Carey and law enforcement reported that Carey's eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and he smelled of alcohol.
Field testing indicated Carey was impaired, and a breath test put his blood alcohol level at .143, well over the legal limit. Carey reportedly told the state trooper he knew he had hit something in the construction zone but "thought he had hit an orange sign."
Carey is president and managing partner of SiebenCarey, a personal injury firm that advertises heavily on Twin Cities television.
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