Press Release

Dillingham Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Third Felony DUI

July 20, 2017

Today, 44 year old Basil Backford of Dillingham was sentenced to spend the next five years in prison for a 2015 DUI. In March 2017, a Dillingham jury found Backford guilty of felony DUI, a class C felony. Backford faced a sentence of up to five years in prison for his conviction.

On September 6, 2015, around 4:15 p.m., the Alaska State Troopers received a report of a motor vehicle collision from the fishing camp of Ekuk, which is near Clark’s Point. A witness called to report that Backford was driving his truck “really fast in circles, then hit the ditch and hit his head.” The witness reported that Backford was really drunk. A Dillingham-based Alaska State Trooper made contact with Backford in Ekuk. Backford had suffered a head injury in the collision. Backford admitted he had been driving and was pretty drunk. Backford’s driver’s license was permanently revoked as a result his conviction for his last felony DUI in 2007.

Superior Court Judge Christina Reigh found that Backford had prior misdemeanor DUI convictions in 1994, 1998, and 2000 as well as a felony drug possession conviction in 2002 and felony DUI convictions in 2002 and 2007. She found that Backford was a ‘worst offender.” Judge Reigh explained that she wanted to send the message that if you get caught drunk driving six times, you will go to jail for a long time.

CONTACT: District Attorney Clint Campion at (907) 842-2482 or clinton.campion@alaska.gov.

More information about the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office is available at http://www.law.alaska.gov/department/criminal/adao.html.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.