Man Faces Dire Consequences After Latest Arrest

A 30-year-old Montauk man is facing possible prison time along with a third lifetime felony conviction after being arrested Friday, October 5, on a driving while intoxicated charge in Montauk. Kevin Becker, 30, remained in county jail in Riverside as of Tuesday morning, after being remanded Friday by East Hampton Town Justice Steven Tekulsky. Becker was not eligible for bail due to his prior two felony convictions.

Becker was one of at least 17 arrested by East Hampton Town police in August in a multi-agency massive sweep. He was accused of being part of a cocaine and Oxycodone distribution ring operating out of Montauk restaurants and bars. Becker was initially charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics, a Class-B felony, but was allowed to plead down to a lower-level felony conspiracy charge.

His attorney, Edward Burke Jr., told the court that his client had entered a drug treatment program at the Dunes facility in East Hampton.

The latest arrest happened after police said Becker, behind the wheel of a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado pickup, was swerving across lane lines on Main Street near South Edison Street early Friday morning. Failing sobriety tests, he was taken to headquarters, police said, where a breath test produced a reading of 0.08 percent, just high enough to justify the driving while intoxicated charge. The traffic stop was made not far from where Becker was stopped in 2015, when he was also charged with felony drunken driving.

Before that, he was charged and convicted in 2010 with DWI as a misdemeanor.

Beyond jail time, Becker is facing the possibility, if convicted of the latest DWI charge, of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles doing a lifetime lookback at his record, which could result in a revocation of his driving privileges for five years or more. In addition, if the Silverado, which was seized by police under county law regarding repeat DWI offenders, is registered to Becker, and he is convicted, it will be sold off at auction by the county. The proceeds from such sales go into programs that fight drunken driving, among others.

Given the consequences of a guilty plea, Becker’s latest felony charge may well well result in a trial in county court. Burke pointed out Monday that “This case centers upon an alleged .08 and there are several issues surrounding a case like this.”

It was not known, as of Monday, whether Becker is currently on probation stemming from the 2015 arrest. What is known is that Becker hasn’t yet been sentenced on the August 28 guilty plea he entered into for the drug charge in the county courtroom of New York State Justice Timothy Mazzei. That is currently scheduled for October 31.

East Hampton Town police also arrested Svitlana Zhukovska, 29, on a misdemeanor charge of aggravated DWI this past week. She was pulled over early Monday morning on Pantigo Road in East Hampton for allegedly swerving across lane lines in a 2016 Honda. At headquarters, her breath test produced a reading of almost three times the allowable percentage of alcohol in the blood, police said, leading to the raised charge.

During her arraignment on Monday, she told East Hampton Town Justice Lisa Rana that she lives in Brooklyn, but had stayed in East Hampton for the season to work as a bartender. After suspending Zhukovska’s license, and expressing concern about the high alcohol reading, Justice Rana released her without bail, but with a stern
warning not to drive.

t.e@indyeastend.com