With the case scheduled for pretrial hearings yesterday, Monday, January 9, McLaren Thumb Region CEO Connie Koutouzos pleaded guilty to one count of operating while intoxicated, having entered a plea agreement with Huron County Prosecutor Tim Rutkowski.
Koutouzos, also the CEO of McLaren Caro Region Hospital, had pleaded not guilty to the charge back in July 2022, but changed her plea in exchange for Rutkowski recommending participation with the Thumb Regional Sobriety Court for Koutouzos’ sentence. While Huron County Circuit Court Judge Gerald Prill accepted the guilty plea, he has not yet agreed to the sentencing recommendation, with Koutouzos to be sentenced in two months, on March 13.
The charge stems from a March 8 incident, when Huron County Sheriff deputies found her asleep in her car on Sebewaing Road in Sheridan Township. According to information obtained the Huron Daily Tribune, there was property damage caused by Koutouzos, though it is not clear what the damage was.
Koutouzos, whose blood alcohol content was 0.08% at the time, had two prior drunk driving convictions, one from 2016 and the other from 2019, from when she was CEO at an Upper Peninsula hospital. On top of that, when she was arrested, her license was invalid due to her past suspensions.
Due to this being a third offense, Koutouzos faces the charge as a felony, which could result in probation (with a month up to a year’s worth of jail time, with community service), rehabilitation via a program, or jail time to the tune of one to five years.
She remains free on bond and in her position at the hospitals, with McLaren Thumb Region’s board refusing to comment on the matter since March of last year.
