Folcroft man gets 4-10 years for 12th DUI

MEDIA COURTHOUSE — A Folsom man was sentenced to four to 10 years in a state prison Monday on two cases, including his 12th lifetime charge of driving under the influence.

Mark A. Perrotta, 60, entered open guilty pleas in February to misdemeanor charges of DUI, two counts of driving while his license was suspended, DUI related, as a third or subsequent offense and false identification to law enforcement.

Common Pleas Court Judge Dominic Pileggi said in imposing the sentence that he believes Perrotta is a danger to the public who appears unable to control his behavior.

The judge said Perrotta did not seem to have trouble admitting his guilt, according to his 40-year record of driving infractions, it’s just that he seems to keep repeating those offenses.

“When he’s on supervision, he doesn’t have the offenses,” Pileggi said. “You’d think that at a certain point even without supervision there would be no reoffending, but that unfortunately has not occurred.”

Perrotta was arrested in Prospect Park on July 15 over an alleged road rage incident at Chester Pike and Lincoln Avenue.

He was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and/or a controlled substance and was charged with DUI, presenting false identification to law enforcement, harassment, driving with a suspended license, DUI related, and disorderly conduct.

The remaining charges in that case were dropped under a negotiated guilty plea worked out by Assistant District Attorney Sean McNabb and defense counsel Stephen Schukraft.

Perrotta had another crash in February 2023, McNabb said, which led to the other charge of driving with a suspended license. He was not found to be driving under the influence in that instance.

Perrotta was sentenced to nine to 18 months for his 11th DUI in June 2021. Because his prior 10 offenses all occurred between 1982 and 2006, his 11th offense in 2019 was treated as a first offense under Pennsylvania law.

As the DUI charge he pleaded to Tuesday constitutes a second offense under those same rules, McNabb said Perrotta faced a mandatory two years in prison for the one charge of driving on a suspended license while DUI in July, plus a 90-day mandatory minimum for the DUI charge itself.

McNabb was seeking a total 5½ to 12 years on all charges. He noted Perrotta has not had a valid driver’s license since 1999 and has 36 arrests for driving on a suspended or revoked license, including five prior convictions for driving while suspended, DUI related.

McNabb pointed to a pre-sentence report that indicated Perrotta had gone through a monthlong inpatient treatment program after being released from jail on $500,000 bail in July but has refused to accept that he has a drug or drinking problem and did not follow through with recommended aftercare.

Schukraft argued that his client has already paid for his prior DUIs and related convictions by spending 14 of the last 40 years in jail. He has been on electronic home monitoring for 10 months without issue, made every required contact with probation and parole and has had clean urine since being on the street, Schukraft said.

He asked that the judge keep the sentence to the two-year mandatory minimum required by the suspended license charge and count the time on the monitor for time served.

Perrotta declined to comment in court but noted he had written a letter to the judge.

Pileggi declined calculating the EHM with time served, which totals less than two months but did find Perrotta is eligible for early release on good time and a drug treatment program.

McNabb objected to the treatment program, as Perrotta has already stated he does not think he has a problem, but the judge noted it is voluntary and Perrotta will have to address any substance abuse issues to comply with the program at any rate.

Perrotta was also ordered to pay $9,000 in fines as well as court costs and a $168 lab fee, and serve 12 months of consecutive probation.