Former Snowflake school bus driver, Ernest “Ernie” Ralph Feight entered into a plea agreement on March 15, 2021 in the Payson Branch of the Gila County Superior Court. He pled guilty to one count of aggravated DUI and one count of child abuse. The aggravated DUI is a class 6 felony and the child abuse charge is a class 3 felony. As part of the plea, sentencing is entirely up to the judge, with probation an option to be considered by the court. The class 3 felony, the more serious of the two convictions, does have a potential prison range of 2 years to 8.75 years.
The criminal charges stem from a junior varsity football trip down to Gilbert on October 1, 2020. It was noticed by several student athletes, that while driving from Snowflake to Payson, the bus’s tires left the road a few times. The team then stopped at Circle K in Star Valley for a rest stop. While in the store, Feight was noticed shoplifting and consuming alcohol. The students notified the coaches of what they observed which led the coaches to have Feight stop the bus at the parking lot of Safeway in Payson, a few miles down the road. There, law enforcement arrived to investigate the matter. Feight was arrested and eventually indicted by a grand jury on 27 charges including DUI, endangerment, and child abuse charges.
Sentencing is set for April 19, 2021. The judge will look at various factors to determine the ultimate sentence. Some of the factors normally considered include the defendant’s criminal history. According to Arizona Court’s Public Access page, it doesn’t appear that Feight has any criminal history other than the current case. The court will also take into consideration the opinion of the victims. Here, Feight was driving the JV football team and each passenger is considered an alleged victim. The judge could potentially consider their positions on what sentencing should be. Most of the parents of the Lobos JV football team did sign a petition to be presented to the judge asking that Feight be given a chance at rehabilitation. The court can consider the defendant’s rehabilitative potential. It should be noted that in prior court pleadings, the court was advised that Feight had already entered into an in-patient residential rehab program.