Salem Man Gets Prison Time After 15th Drunken Driving Arrest

SALEM, MA -- A Salem man who has been arrested 15 times for drunken driving will spend up to five years in state prison and an additional 2 1/2 years in county jail after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a July 11, 2017, drunken driving arrest. Peter Anketell, 56, of Salem, was arrested last July after nearly hitting two pedestrians near the Speedway gas station on Derby Street. It was the 15th time he had been arrested for drunken driving since 1978.

Anketell's record includes 10 convictions in Massachusetts, three in New Hampshire and an open case in Florida. When he was arrested last summer, he had just finished serving a 12- to 14-year prison sentence for a 2004 conviction on motor vehicle homicide while drunk. That conviction came after a 2002 crash in which Anketell's girlfriend, 40-year-old Cynthia Wilson, was killed.

When Salem Police arrested Anketell last year, retired Marblehead Police detective Marion Keating told CBS News Boston she was shocked to see a man she had helped send to prison in 2002 back behind the wheel. "I hate to say it but he's inherently evil," Keating said. Keating also told CBS that after the crash Anketell tried to move Wilson's body to make it appear as if she had been driving.

Previously on Patch: After 15th Drunk Driving Arrest, Salem Man Has A Choice

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Patch file photo by Salem Police Department.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).