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Fleeing driver gets 45 years in prison
By CARRIE JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
INVERNESS -- An Inverness woman was sentenced to serve a 45-year prison term for leading sheriff's deputies on what a judge described as a "deadly game of chicken." Gina Marie White, 40, stared ahead blankly Tuesday morning as Circuit Judge Ric A. Howard imposed the sentence. When asked if she understood her punishment, White hesitated and then said, "I don't know." In her trial last month, White was convicted of one count each of fleeing arrest, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence, criminal mischief and driving with a suspended license. White faced a maximum penalty of 51 years in prison, although she could have earned as little as five years under state sentencing guidelines. Two people testified during White's sentencing hearing Tuesday, urging the judge to exercise compassion when doling out punishment. Assistant Public Defender Colleen Kasperek, who had to remove herself from White's case, said she believed her former client had serious mental problems. Kasperek said she was prevented from having White thoroughly examined by a psychiatrist because of her client's insistence on a speedy trial. No mental evaluation was ever performed, Kasperek said. Jan Schoepflin, White's friend and a minister with The House that Solomon Built, said White was a good mother to her young daughter but made poor decisions while under the influence of alcohol. "If you take Gina away from the alcohol, I like her character," Schoepflin said. "She always did what she said she was going to do." White also pleaded with Howard for mercy. She told him she was abused by her former husband and suffered serious injuries to her head, causing her to have blackouts. But Howard was unsympathetic. White never disclosed the injuries before Tuesday's hearing and was uncooperative with officials preparing her presentencing report. "How was I supposed to glean all this from your refusal to talk?" the judge asked. White was convicted of ramming her truck into a former roommate's vehicle in a fit of drunken rage on July 8. She then led sheriff's deputies on a wild, high-speed chase through the streets of Hernando, which ended when she smashed into a deputy's patrol car. No one was seriously injured but, as Howard noted, there were several near misses. Several cars had to swerve out of her way, and White narrowly avoided hitting a young boy on a bicycle. White performed similar acts in the past. She was arrested in 1998 on charges of resisting an officer and in 2001, when authorities accused her of attempting to flee arrest, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records. "I'm afraid that if she gets out, she's going to kill someone, judge," Assistant State Attorney Richard Buxman told Howard. White's trial was almost as strange as the crime she was accused of committing. Her boyfriend, Kevin Perry, tried to set fire to a bottle of lighter fluid while sitting in the court gallery shortly after testimony began. He was arrested and charged with possessing and attempting to detonate a combustible liquid or firebomb. Then, while a witness was attempting to testify, White screamed out that he had tried to rape her. The outburst angered Howard, who threatened to remove White from the courtroom. In addition to the prison sentence, Howard ordered White to complete drug and alcohol counseling and perform community service. He also revoked her driver's license. "You cannot be trusted on the roadways of Florida," Howard said. -- Carrie Johnson can be reached at 860-7309 or cjohnson@sptimes.com .
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