An audience of juniors and seniors looking forward to Friday's homecoming parties watched Tuesday as three DWI offenders were sentenced by a magistrate in the Santa Fe High School gymnasium — and led away to jail in handcuffs and shackles.

It was obviously sobering, especially for those who are continuing to grieve the loss of four teenagers earlier this year in an alleged drunken-driving accident.

The students paid close attention to the proceedings as Isaac Ruiz, 27, admitted to the court, "I made a terrible mistake."

Ruiz blew .23 and .21 in breath alcohol tests last December when he was arrested near a McDonald's drive-through lane. "It's costing me a lot of money," he said. "I lost my girlfriend. It's not something I want to go through again."

Magistrate George Anaya then sentenced Ruiz to two days in jail, 88 suspended, a year of unsupervised probation, 24 hours of community service and one year of driving with an ignition interlock. He will also have to pay $480 in fines and court costs.

Holding real-life DWI sentencing hearings in public schools was the idea of a Valencia County judge. But this is the first time the New Mexico Court to Schools program has offered Santa Fe students the chance to witness firsthand what happens to DWI defendants. All defendants agreed to participate.

New Mexico used to be lenient on drunken drivers, Bradford Bogle, 34, told the court, but, "that's not true anymore. I can attest to that." Bogle admitted to driving drunk many times before he was arrested, but now said, "It's not worth the pain."

David Romero, the third young man sentenced Tuesday, acknowledged, "I made a lot of bad decisions in my life, but the decision to drive drunk was the worst." Romero lost a good-paying job and "the trust of my family," on whom he now has to rely for financial support. Jail, he told the judge — and the audience of students — "is a very bad place to be. People tell you when to eat, when to sleep."

Seeing the actual consequences of drinking and driving, not to mention the humiliation of being manacled, made a strong impression on the young drivers in the audience, said Donita Sena, DWI Drug Program coordinator for Santa Fe County Magistrate Court. Reading stories about DWI arrests in the newspaper doesn't really show them the full impact. But of what happened Tuesday in the gym, "it's real," she said. "And it makes for a long-lasting memory."

Just in case the "wake-up call" didn't get through, Anaya, in a business suit rather than his robes, spelled it out. After asking for a show of hands of those who had turned 18, he said, "You get a DWI, this is what you're facing. You're not coming to juvenile court. I hope this gives you a second thought" about drinking and driving.

After court adjourned, Joseph Romero, 17, observed that "drunken driving has impacted our community quite a bit." The message he said he got from the sentencing hearing was, "I think you should have a good time, but you do have to be responsible for your actions."

Contact Anne Constable at 986-3022 or aconstable@sfnewmexican.com.