CINCINNATI -- A man with 24 drunken-driving convictions on his record says he deserves to be let out of prison early.

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Local Man Seeks Early Prison Release

Curtis Sears isn't scheduled to be released until 2006, but with his long history of convictions, the line was long Tuesday as many waited for their chances to convince a Warren County judge to keep Sears behind bars.

Sears has 19 DUIs in Ohio and five more in Kentucky.

"It's just a matter of time before he kills somebody," assistant prosecutor Leslie Meyer said.

After serving half of his four-year sentence, Sears says he's cured. In a motion to suspend his sentence, Sears, acting as his own lawyer, said he's no longer a threat to society and seeks another chance to straighten out his life.

He showed a judge Tuesday certificates proving that he's finished two different rehabilitation programs. But Meyer said it's not enough, Paolello reported.

"If he gets out of jail today or at the end of his sentence, which is in four years, he's going to commit another DUI," she said. "It's just a matter of time."

When Sears was arrested in 2001 for his 24th DUI, a sheriff's deputy had seen him weaving along Stubbs Mill Road in Union Township. His license already had been suspended for life.

Sears had attended countless drug and alcohol programs before, and even spent time in jail, but nothing seemed to keep him from drinking and driving. Mothers Against Drunk Driving spokeswoman Carroll Combs, who once was hit by a repeat drunken driver, said she fears that nothing will stop Sears once he's released from prison.

"He's a menace on the road," she said. "He can hurt me, you or anybody else. History will repeat itself here."

Warren County Judge James Flannery will decide Sears' fate this week, Paolello reported.