BERNALILLO COUNTY, N.M. (KRQE) – In Bernalillo County, repeat drunk drivers can avoid time behind bars if they successfully participate in the DWI Court program. It’s a deal Jennifer Whitey received after her eighth drunk driving arrest. KRQE Investigative Reporter Ann Pierret spent the past several years following Whitey through the program.
KRQE Investigates initially highlighted Whitey’s multiple drunk driving arrests and dug into the details of her plea agreement, because when it came to her punishment, it appears Whitey got a break. While she admitted to five DWIs, Whitey only pleaded to four. By law, a fourth DWI offense conviction results in a mandatory six months in jail. But the prosecutor and judge agreed that if Whitey graduated from the DWI Court Program, she could serve that six-month sentence on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor instead.
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“It was good. I want to thank you. Because without that video, me seeing it, um, that’s what changed my whole perspective on myself,” Whitey told Pierret in June 2025. The story included lapel footage of Whitey’s eighth drunk driving arrest, including her attempt to escape from deputies while being booked at the substation. “That was not me,” Whitey said. “That’s just somebody that was crying for help, who needed help, and she didn’t know how to ask for help.”
Whitey shared that she watched the story and read the community’s comments posted on social media. Many believed Whitey already had too many chances and took to social media, calling her “a waste of human life,” writing “this makes me sick,” and demanding, “lock her up and throw away the key.”…