A Post Falls man will serve up to eight years in prison for his seventh conviction for driving under the influence.

Vincent D. Smith, 53, was sentenced Thursday, Jan. 19, by Judge Richard Christensen in First District Court, according to the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

This was Smith’s seventh DUI conviction, and his third felony DUI conviction.

Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney Barry McHugh praised the work of the Post Falls Police Department and Prosecuting Attorney Laura McClinton.

“Judge Christensen appropriately disregarded Mr. Smith’s claim that he is a changed man,” McHugh said, in a press release issued by his office. “After so many chances to change his ways, and the aggravated circumstances surrounding this most recent event, Mr. Smith is clearly a danger to the public.”

Christensen ordered that the first four years of the eight-year sentence would be fixed, and the remaining years would be indeterminate with credit for time served.

Smith entered guilty pleas on Nov. 21, 2017. The charges related to a traffic accident on June 23, 2017, when Smith was driving a vehicle that rear-ended another vehicle stopped for a traffic light in Post Falls.

Smith then fled the scene and was later arrested. He refused to take a breath test, but a search warrant for blood was obtained and Smith’s blood alcohol content was determined to be .28, or 3.5 times the legal limit of .08.

Smith’s license was suspended at the time of the accident because of a prior DUI, and he had no insurance. All four occupants of the vehicle Smith hit were injured in the collision.