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LARGO - A Pinellas prosecutor charged with DUI earlier this month hasn't lost her job, but she has been demoted.
Lydia D. Wardell, 37, has been transferred to the consumer fraud division of the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office and is no longer a misdemeanor supervisor.
Wardell was well-known among defense attorneys as a prosecutor who aggressively pursued DUI cases.
Bruce Bartlett, chief assistant for State Attorney Bernie McCabe, said he could not rule out further discipline against Wardell, depending on what happened with her case. He refused to elaborate.
"She's going to be punished for it like anybody else," Bartlett said Monday. "She's trying to move on with her life. She's acknowledged her wrongdoing. She's extremely remorseful."
Hillsborough prosecutors have not reached a decision on whether to charge her with felony child endangerment. Wardell is accused of driving under the influence while her three children, ages 3, 6 and 9, were in the car.
Wardell, who returned to work last week, did not return a call for comment.
On Nov. 12, Wardell filed paperwork with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles asking for a hearing to contest the license suspension for the DUI charge. The request for a hearing, scheduled for Dec. 8, does not list grounds for contesting the suspension.
Wardell was charged with DUI Nov. 10 by Tampa police who said she was driving the wrong way on Bayshore Boulevard and was involved in a minor car accident. A breath test showed her blood-alcohol level was 0.23 percent, nearly three times the level at which the law presumes a driver is impaired.
Times staff writer Christopher Goffard contributed to this report.