DUI program chief charged with DUI, property damage, leaving the scene of an accident, resisting arrest, and disorderly intoxication

hyp·o·crite [hip-uh-krit]

–noun

1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.

[Origin: 1175–1225; ME ipocrite < OF < LL hypocrita < Gk hypokrits a stage actor, hence one who pretends to be what he is not, equiv. to hypokr(nesthai) (see hypocrisy) + -tés agent suffix]

Palm City, FL

The director of a non-profit agency which provides educational services to people on probation for DUI and other misdemeanors has herself been arrested for driving under the influence.

Margot “Peggy” Cioffi, 59, of Palm City, has been suspended as executive director of the Comprehensive Offender Rehabilitation and Education program (CORE) which serves about 5,000 people in Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee and Indian River Counties.

Cioffi is charged with DUI with property damage, leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, resisting arrest without violence and disorderly intoxication. Police said her blood alcohol content was 0.336, more than four times Florida’s legal limit of .08 percent.

Police said that Cioffi was involved in an automobile accident about 5:30 p.m. last Monday on Martin Downs Blvd., Palm City. She was arrested about an hour and a half later at her home. Police said she struck another car with her Nissan SUV, drove home and pulled away from a deputy as he tried to handcuff her. The police report says that she screamed so loudly that neighbors came out of their homes due to the commotion.

She has been released from the Martin County Jail on $2,000 bond.

Cioffi was suspended without pay Wednesday pending the outcome of the charges. She has served as CORE’s executive director since 1989 and had previously served as a evaluator and instructor.

Since her suspension, Peggy likely is spending more time at her home in Palm City, Florida.

 Subscribe to DWI News Links