CRANSTON, R.I. (WJAR) — She had been arrested more than 100 times before being accused of hitting and killing a man who was walking his dog in Hope Valley over the weekend.
Shannon Godbout, 41, of Hopkinton, was in police custody at the hospital and due Tuesday in court, a place she is all too familiar with.
She is now facing the most serious charges on her long record, driving to endanger resulting in death and drug possession with intent to deliver after allegedly hitting 70-year-old musician Rory Macleod, a one-time member of the band Roomful of Blues.
Hopkinton police said a woman was arrested after a deadly pedestrian crash on Saturday morning. (Hopkinton Police Department)
Hopkinton police said, before the deadly Saturday incident, Godbout had been arrested 102 times and issued 40 citations.
A review of Rhode Island court records by NBC 10 News shows that in her 23 years as an adult, Godbout already had 36 criminal cases.
She’d been charged with crimes in a dozen Rhode Island cities and towns.
The longest prison sentence for any of them appears to be a little more than two years.
“Up until now, the defendant’s past crimes, while numerous, have mostly been low-level, non-violent offenses such as simple drug possession and shoplifting,” Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office spokesman Tim Rondeau wrote in a statement to NBC 10. “She has been previously sentenced to varying terms of incarceration for those offenses and the court, in sentencing her, presumably took into account her criminal history and the nature of the crimes to which she pleaded guilty.”
“From my looking at her record, I didn’t see anything that struck me as, ‘Oh wow, this person really dropped the ball,’” said NB C10 legal analyst Austin Dana, noting many of Godbout’s previous offenses are misdemeanors. “There’s really not much more a judge would do for these misdemeanor crimes.”
Godbout’s previous charges include drug possession five times, shoplifting 13 times, larceny five times, possession of a stolen vehicle or driving without the owner’s consent four times, and driving with a suspended license 10 times (most of those more than a decade ago).
Most of Godbout’s criminal cases ended the same way, with her pleading no contest and receiving suspended sentences, meaning she didn’t go to prison.
“When you’re talking about shoplifting, when you’re talking about drug charges, it doesn’t make sense for the state to foot that bill to incarcerate her for a long period of time without rehabilitation,” Dana told NBC 10 News.
Shannon Godbout had been arrested more than 100 times before being accused of hitting and killing a man who was walking his dog in Hope Valley over the weekend.
Godbout had been court ordered into substance abuse counselling seven times, most recently in April.
“The real issue, I think, is there is a lack of rehabilitation for her. The counseling wasn’t effective, and she was allowed to cycle through the system over and over again,” Dana said.
“Unfortunately, it’s not all that unusual to see a record like this, especially when you’re dealing with drug addiction or mental health issues,” he said.
Traffic court records show Godbout was issued two speeding tickets earlier this year.
