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In Minnesota, 46,748 drivers have at least 4 DWI arrests. They form a dangerous group that’s hard to treat or punish.

Danny Lee Bettcher was back in an Otter Tail County courtroom this month, again for driving drunk. This time, he was facing his 27th DWI conviction a Minnesota record.

Bettcher, who spent more than four years behind bars for a prior drunken driving offense, was arrested after downing a few rounds of beer and Jagermeister and sailing his motorcycle through a four-way stop. He was released from prison nine months earlier. “I drink to get drunk,” said Bettcher, 57.

Though his lawyer pleaded for leniency, Judge Mark Hansen decided the roads would be safer with Bettcher locked up. Hansen sentenced him to four years in prison, the recommended penalty in Bettcher’s case. “I don’t want you to kill somebody,” the judge said.

State officials say Bettcher is one of 139 people who have been charged with at least 15 DWIs. Altogether, 46,748 drivers have been arrested at least four times for driving while intoxicated. Minnesota legislators took aim at this group in 2001, when they passed a felony DWI law creating stiff penalties for those with four DWI convictions in 10 years. Since then, at least 4,400 drivers have been sentenced under the statute, which carries a minimum of three years in prison, typically converted to probation with some jail time for first-time felons.

But the prospect of prison might not be much of a deterrent. The number of people with a second felony DWI has increased each year, reaching 156 in 2008, or 20 percent of all felony DWI convictions.

For many chronic offenders, the issue isn’t whether they’re going to drink and drive again. It’s how to get away with it. Experts say repeat offenders are often alcoholics who simply don’t respond to treatment or tough punishment. They drive without licenses. If their vehicle is taken away, they drive someone else’s car. They’ve driven drunk so many times they mistakenly believe they’re in control of their vehicles, even if they can’t walk a straight line.