Judge: Woman violated DWI probation

Saying "one slip-up is one slip-up too many," a State Supreme Court judge sent a former Hamptons real estate agent to jail Tuesday for violating a DWI probation he granted less than four months ago.

Charlotte DePersia, of East Hampton, looked down as Justice William J. Condon imposed $500,000 cash bail or $1 million bond. She was taken to the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead.

"I alluded to it numerous times" in the December 2011 sentencing, Condon said, referring to his warning then that a minor violation could cost DePersia her freedom. "I think I was crystal clear."

DePersia, 58, had been on probation in connection with a 2010 crash in Bridgehampton that injured two women, one of whom was pregnant at the time. She was ordered to wear an ankle bracelet monitor and told that having one drink, even if she didn't drive afterward, would be considered a violation. At Tuesday's hearing, Prosecutor Kate Wagner said the monitor detected a .039 reading the evening of March 10, and that DePersia admitted she drank two glasses of wine at Gurney's Inn in Montauk.

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota, the crash victims and the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving had all opposed granting DePersia probation in December, citing a previous probation violation and arrests. They applauded Tuesday's decision.

"We feel that she is where she deserves to be," said Matthew Gluck, 36, of East Quogue and Manhattan, whose wife and a family friend were injured in the crash. "And society is safer because of it."

Spota, whose office in December had sought the maximum 11/3 to 4 years in prison for DePersia, commended Condon for setting bail. "She was given a tremendous break," he said of the judge's decision to grant probation last year. "She could have easily have killed someone."

DePersia's attorney, Tad Scharfenberg, of East Hampton, said Tuesday that he needed more time to investigate the charges before he could comment. He reminded the court that before this incident, his client had been in treatment and sober for 15 months.