Serial drunk given 10 years

A Canton man was sentenced to 10 years without parole after he pleaded guilty last week to his fourth drunk driving offense.

The man, Calvin F. Francis, 50, of Canton, was sentenced to 10 years without the possibility of parole for felony DUI, District Attorney Bubba Bramlett, Jr. announced last week.

Bramlett said this was his fourth offense as a non-violent habitual offender in Madison County Circuit Court on August 28.

“Mr. Francis was given a chance after chance to get sober,” Bramlett said. “Or at least to quit driving while intoxicated. In Mississippi, if you are convicted of a third DUI within five years, it becomes a felony offense. If you are convicted of another, it becomes a DUI 4th, which is punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.”

On April 18, 2023, an officer with Madison Police Department made a traffic stop on a vehicle for careless driving and identified the driver as Francis, Bramlett said. The officer smelled alcohol on Francis and asked him to step out of the vehicle when Francis advised that he had just been released from prison for a Felony DUI 3rd Offense in December of 2022. 

“He had already been to prison once for the third DUI offense,” Bramlett said. “Within 14 months of his release from prison, he was stopped and charged with not one but two additional DUI offenses.” 

After conducting field sobriety tests and preliminary breath tests, Francis was taken into custody and transported to the Madison Police Department, where he blew into the Intoxilyzer machine and registered a .13%, which is above the legal blood alcohol content limit of .08%.

The second offense following his release came on February 24, 2024,  when an officer with Ridgeland Police Department made a traffic stop on Francis for careless driving. The officer smelled alcohol on Francis, and after conducting field sobriety tests, Francis refused to blow in the machine. A search warrant was obtained for his blood. His BAC was .15%, which is almost twice the legal limit.

“I want to thank both the Madison and Ridgeland Police Departments for always keeping an eye out for possibly impaired drivers and keeping the roadways of Madison County safe for all drivers,” Bramlett said.

Francis has remained in custody since his February 24, 2024 arrest. 

“He is a serious danger to the community, and it is a miracle he had not hurt or killed an innocent person,” Bramlett said.

Francis has at least four prior DUI convictions including one for a felony DUI 3rd Offense in Madison County from 2018, Bramlett said. Bramlett said Francis served five years for the DUI third offense. 

Francis was indicted on two counts of Felony DUI 4th offense in April of 2024.