Notorious drunken driver sentenced for 27th DWI

WADENA -- One of the state's most notorious drunken drivers has been sent to prison for four years for his 27th driving while impaired conviction.

Danny Lee Bettcher, who has also spelled his last name Boettcher, was sentenced Jan. 14 in Otter Tail County District Court to four years in prison for his latest arrest, last May in New York Mills.

Bettcher, 57, has listed home addresses in Wadena and New York Mills.

His sentence, for a single felony count of driving while impaired - refusal to submit to chemical test, included credit for 250 days already spent in jail. Other charges of DWI, driving after cancellation and possession of a small amount of marijuana were dismissed at sentencing.

Steve Schulz is a reporter at the Wadena Pioneer Journal, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.