A 33-year-old Imperial man is facing a felony DWI case after deputies say an erratic late-night drive on Highway 21 nearly ended in disaster west of De Soto.
Christopher Joseph Zotta has been charged as a persistent DWI offender after Jefferson County deputies reported stopping him on Highway 21 for dangerous driving. He was arrested on June 30 and, according to court and jail records, was being held on a $25,000 bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro as of July 2. The stop followed an earlier patrol on April 11 in which deputies likewise reported signs of impairment and risky driving behavior.
Court and jail documents reviewed by Leader Publications say Zotta faces a felony persistent-DWI charge and a misdemeanor count of driving with a revoked license. According to the probable-cause statement filed by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, deputies pulled him over in the 13200 block of Highway 21, west of De Soto, after watching him swerve between lanes, cross into the oncoming-traffic lane and nearly drive off the road.
What Missouri's 'persistent' label means
Under Missouri law, a "persistent offender" is someone who has been found guilty of two or more intoxication-related traffic offenses on separate occasions, or of a single intoxication-related offense that caused injury or death. A DWI elevated to a persistent-offender case is treated as a Class E felony and can carry up to four years in prison, and the statutes limit the court’s ability to suspend a sentence or rely only on fines, according to the Missouri Revisor of Statutes.
Previous convictions and bond
Leader Publications reports that Zotta’s criminal history includes a June 2023 conviction in St. Louis County for DWI causing a serious injury and leaving the scene, a July 2024 conviction for second-degree burglary in Jefferson County, and at least two convictions for driving with a revoked license, according to court records. Prosecutors cite those prior judgments as the basis for seeking to classify him as a persistent offender, the outlet reports.
What a conviction could mean
If convicted as charged, Zotta would face the statutory penalties that come with a Class E felony and could lose access to certain civil rights and benefits that are restricted for people with felony records. Federal law also generally bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing firearms, under 18 U.S.C. 922, as summarized by Cornell Law School.
