HILO — A Hilo man was sentenced yesterday to a year in jail for his 14th drunken driving conviction.

Henry Moniz Jr., 63, will he allowed to serve his sentence on weekends during the five-year probation term imposed by Hilo Circuit Judge Greg Nakamura for the felony habitual DUI conviction.
Nakamura also sentenced Moniz to six months incarceration for driving while his license is suspended, to run concurrently with the DUI sentence. Moniz was also fined $2,000 and assessed a $1,000 drug demand reduction fee.
Moniz, who could have received a five-year prison term, will report to Hawaii Community Correctional Center Friday at 6 p.m. He said afterwards he was "relieved" by the judge's sentence.
"I got another break," Moniz said. "I can't be drinking no more and driving."
Moniz said his drinking problem is a result of his "experiences in Vietnam."
"I got two Bronze Stars for valor but nobody looks at that," he said.
Afterward, Deputy Prosecutor Jason Skier expressed "extreme disappointment." He said Moniz is to be "congratulated for his service to our country," but added that Moniz's war record is no excuse for his habitual drunken driving.
"I was hoping that he would get a prison sentence," Skier said. "You look at the law, you look at the point the Legislature made this a felony offense with the possibility of five years in prison, obviously, they had someone in mind ... a person who would qualify for a five-year prison sentence. And if Mr. Moniz isn't that person, with 12 or 13 prior arrests or DUIs?"
Skier told the judge that Moniz's record of 62 criminal convictions, including four for felonies, made a five-year prison term "appropriate for Mr. Moniz."
"He's been to prison before, Judge," Skier said. "And here in the state of Hawaii, where there is no death penalty and prison is the ultimate sanction we can levy on somebody, someone who had been to prison before would say to themselves, 'Prison is a terrible thing. What could I do to keep from going back to prison?' It seems Mr. Moniz has not learned that lesson. At 63, he's already set in his ways; he's already got an entrenched criminal mentality."
Moniz was charged Aug. 19 after being arrested by police at a sobriety checkpoint.
"I think the people of this state are lucky, because when he went through the DUI checkpoint that night, he almost ran over several police officers, and that was trying to navigate his way through the DUI checkpoint," Skier said. "He was a hazard to everybody being on the road that night.
"He never said he won't be drinking anymore; he said he won't be driving. And when somebody is drinking, their judgment is questionable. It's like anytime Mr. Moniz is drinking, there's always that threat that he's gonna grab the keys and he's going to get behind the wheel and once again make himself a danger to society."
Moniz's attorney, Deputy Public Defender Jennifer Wharton, argued that Moniz is getting treatment for alcoholism from the Department of Veterans Affairs and should be sentenced to probation.
"We can send Mr. Moniz (to prison) and put a Band-Aid on the situation and it will possibly keep us safe for a period of five years, but when he gets out, he will not have changed," Wharton said. "As Mr. Skier already said, prison didn't teach him to be clean and sober.
"He does say he quit drinking since the incident and I believe him because I have seen Mr. Moniz a number of times and he has not smelled of alcohol. ... He's learned his lesson. His statement that he would maybe drink again but he wouldn't drive again is the true honest statement of an alcoholic addict. ... He's being honest with us that he doesn't know if he can stop drinking."
Moniz declined comment during sentencing. Nakamura told Moniz that if he violates probation by drinking while driving, he will "likely be sent to prison." Skier said afterward that with the holiday season approaching, Moniz's sentence sends the wrong message to the public.
"This is the time that most people drive under the influence or would be apt to drive under the influence," he said. "Somebody with a history of doing this but not as bad as Mr. Moniz ... would say to themselves, 'Thirteen DUIs, didn't get prison. So me with my five DUIs or my six DUIs, if I do it again, no way am I going to prison on this.'"