Press Release from Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office
Jeffrey Allen Jeske, 69, was found guilty of felony DUI. The charge stems from an incident on March 1, 2025, in which Jeske was pulled over for driving without headlights or taillights after dark (after 10pm). Jeske displayed several signs of intoxication during the stop and was investigated for drunk driving.
During the investigation, Jeske refused to complete field sobriety evaluations and to provide a breath sample. After obtaining a search warrant, a sample of Jeske’s blood was collected revealing a blood alcohol concentration of 0.157 – nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08.
However, several officers had to restrain Jeske to a padded mat on the ground before the blood sample could be collected. Felony DUI is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Jeske was sentenced on December 30, 2025, by District Judge Regina McCrea.
Jeske’s criminal history spans more than 30 years and includes 7 prior convictions for DUI (all in Kootenai County). Jeske was convicted of misdemeanor DUI in 1995, 1997, 2002, and 2005.
Jeske was convicted of felony DUI in 2007 and was placed on probation. Jeske violated that probation when he was convicted, again, of felony DUI in 2010. Following that probation violation and new DUI, Jeske was granted probation after completing treatment while on a rider.
A rider (more formally known as a ‘retained jurisdiction’) allows a defendant to spend up to one year in a prison-based treatment program before becoming eligible for probation.
Jeske was convicted, again, of felony DUI in 2016. In that case, Jeske also refused to complete field sobriety evaluations and to provide a breath sample. After obtaining a search warrant, a sample of Jeske’s blood was collected revealing a blood alcohol concentration of 0.182. In that case, the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office recommended that Jeske be sentenced to prison.
However, Jeske was granted probation after completing treatment while on another rider. Jeske violated that probation in 2019 after consuming alcoholic beverages and marijuana. Again, the Kootenai County prosecutor’s Office recommended that Jeske be sentenced to prison. However, Jeske was again granted probation.
At sentencing on December 30, 2025, Prosecuting Attorney Stanley T. Mortensen recommended a 10-year prison sentence with parole eligibility after 5 years.
District Judge Regina McCrea sentenced Jeske to an 8-year prison sentence with parole eligibility after 4 years and ordered a 5-year driver’s license suspension following Jeske’s release from prison.
Prosecuting Attorney Stanley T. Mortensen thanks the Idaho State Police for investigating the case and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Donna Gardner for prosecuting the case.
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.”
