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Bus driver who was drunk while driving boys to YMCA camp pleads guilty to DWI

Charges: Bus driver was drunk while driving 35 boys to YMCA camp
Charges: Bus driver was drunk while driving 35 boys to YMCA camp 02:22

MINNEAPOLIS -- The man who was drunk on fireball whisky while driving a bus full of kids over the summer will spend a year in jail after pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated.

Patrick Bullard was driving a bus of 35 boys between the ages of 11 and 14, along with two adult chaperones in late August to a camp in northern Minnesota. 

After driving across a lane of traffic and onto the shoulder, he was pulled over and blew a .257 preliminary breath test, investigators said said. The legal limit in Minnesota while operating a commercial video is 0.04.

He faced four counts, including DWI and refusal to submit to a chemical test, as well as possessing an open bottle.

On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to DWI, and was sentenced to 365 days in prison, though 362 of those days were stayed for two years. He'll also serve two years of supervised probation, complete chemical dependency treatment, and serve 40 hours of community service.

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