Press Release from Kootenai County Prosecutor
Aurelio Ralph Gayton, 50, was found guilty of felony DUI. The charge stems from an incident on October 20, 2024, when a trooper from the Idaho State Police observed Gayton driving the wrong way down an I-90 off ramp. Fortunately, the trooper pulled Gayton over as he was preparing to drive the wrong way on the divided highway. Gayton refused to complete field sobriety evaluations and to provide a breath sample.
After obtaining a search warrant, the trooper collected a sample of Gayton’s blood revealing a blood alcohol concentration of 0.210—more than twice the legal limit of 0.08. Felony DUI is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Having previously been convicted of three prior felony offenses, Gayton was also convicted of being a Persistent Violator (sometimes called ‘habitual’ or ‘repeat offender’). This enhancement mandates that a prison sentence be no less than 5 years but allows a Court to extend a sentence by up to life. Gayton was sentenced on March 3, 2025, by District Judge Barry McHugh.
This was Gayton’s 8th lifetime conviction for DUI. Gayton was first convicted of DUI in 1999 and then twice again in 2005. Gayton was convicted of felony DUI in 2008 and then again in 2011. In 2017, Gayton was convicted of felony DUI and Persistent Violator following a two-day jury trial in a case where Gayton crashed into another vehicle while driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.238—nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08. Prior to being sentenced, however, Gayton was again arrested and convicted of felony DUI in a case where he was driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.176.
In October of 2017, Gayton was sentenced by Idaho Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Meyer (then a Kootenai County District Judge). Although the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office recommended a 40-year prison sentence (with parole eligibility after 10 years), Gayton was given a 15-year prison sentence (with parole eligibility after 6 years). Gayton was released on parole after serving only 6 years and was on parole at the time of the October 20, 2024, incident.
On March 3, 2025, Prosecuting Attorney Stanley T. Mortensen recommended a 40-year prison sentence with parole eligibility after 20 years for the October 20, 2024, incident.
District Judge Barry McHugh sentenced Gayton to a 40-year prison sentence with parole eligibility after 15 years.
Prosecuting Attorney Stanley T. Mortensen thanks the Idaho State Police for investigating the case and stopping Gayton before he likely would have caused a head-on collision. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), “[a]bout 32% of all traffic crash fatalities in the United States involve drunk drivers. In 2022, there were 13,524 people killed in these preventable crashes. In fact, on average over the 10-year period from 2013-2022, about 11,000 people died every year in drunk-driving crashes.”
