Daniel Joseph Ramage Sentenced to 10 Years for Felony DUI, Eluding

Daniel Joseph Ramage, 29, was ordered to spend 10 years in prison after being convicted of felony driving under the influence and felony eluding, District Judge Barry McHugh sentenced Friday. Ramage is eligible for parole after three years and faces a five-year driver’s license suspension following his release, court materials show.

The case began when a Post Falls officer observed Ramage “cross over the center and fog lines multiple times.” The Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office said the officer activated emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop but Ramage refused to pull over. Prosecutors said Ramage “led the officer in a pursuit spanning several miles through a residential area and failed to stop at more than a dozen stop signs.”

Ramage eventually stopped and was arrested. Prosecutors reported Ramage “displayed several signs of intoxication during the stop and was investigated for drunken driving.” Ramage refused field sobriety evaluations and declined to provide a breath sample. After obtaining a search warrant, law enforcement collected a blood sample that showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.282, described by prosecutors as three and a half times the legal limit of 0.08.

Ramage’s criminal history includes three prior DUI convictions: two misdemeanor DUI convictions in 2017 and a felony DUI conviction in 2021, prosecutors said. Those prior convictions were cited during sentencing hearings and factored into the decision to impose a decade in prison.

The pursuit through residential streets and failure to stop at multiple stop signs raised strong public-safety concerns for neighbors and first responders. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data cited in local court filings notes that about 30 percent of traffic crash fatalities in the United States involve drunken drivers, a statistic prosecutors used to frame the seriousness of the offense.

The Ramage sentence arrives amid heightened local attention to repeat DUI offenders. Separately, prosecutors secured an eight-year prison sentence for Jeffrey Allen Jeske, 69, who was convicted of his eighth lifetime DUI after a March 1, 2025 traffic stop. Court records show officers required multiple personnel to restrain Jeske to a padded mat during a blood draw; one sample was reported at 0.157 blood alcohol concentration. Judge Regina McCrea imposed that sentence on Dec. 30, 2025.

For Kootenai County residents, the Ramage decision underscores the criminal penalties for high-BAC driving and for eluding officers during pursuits, while spotlighting the recurring problem of repeat DUI offenders. Expect continued enforcement and court activity in similar cases, and watch for official prosecutor’s office releases or court dockets for further procedural details and any appeals.