For years, Craig Irwin had wanted a chance to prove himself.

Irwin, 47, has spent much of his adult life in and out of jail and prison. With 15 driving under the influence convictions since 1991 and another DUI charge still pending in Morton County, it's no secret that his most recent troubles have revolved largely around alcohol and driving.

Irwin's exploits have made local and national news, and he was used as an example during the 1997 North Dakota Legislature of why North Dakota needed a felony drunken-driving law. Irwin, of Mandan, has heard of people making bets about when he'll get picked up for drunken driving the next time.

After years of bouncing through the legal system, a judge finally gave Irwin the chance he had been waiting for - the inspiration to quit drinking. The chance came in the form of a test run of Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem's 24/7 Sobriety Program.

Irwin was out of jail on bond in November, awaiting sentencing on a DUI charge in Burleigh County and trial on a felony DUI charge in Morton County, when his attorney, Wayne Goter, told him South Central District Judge Robert Wefald had changed his bond conditions.

Irwin would have to pass two breathalyzer tests per day to remain out of jail on bond.

"At first, I was questioning the legalities of it," Irwin told the Tribune in an interview Tuesday at the state penitentiary.

But after discussing it with his wife, Amanda, Irwin decided he was getting his chance to prove to all the nay-sayers that he could go without alcohol.

He took his first test that day, Nov. 6, and passed. He passed every breathalyzer test he took at the Bismarck Transition Center until his sentencing on Dec. 7.

Amanda Irwin, 31, said the tests started out as a nuisance, but the smile on her husband's face each time he came out of the transition center after a passed test made the twice-daily family trips to Bismarck worthwhile.

"It made him feel so good about himself," she said.

Wefald told Irwin at his sentencing that his success in passing the breathalyzers had earned him a lighter sentence than the maximum requested by Burleigh County State's Attorney Julie Lawyer. Lawyer wanted Irwin sentenced to one year for driving under the influence and one year for driving under suspension, to be served consecutively.

Wefald sentenced Irwin to one year with three months suspended for the DUI, his fourth such conviction in seven years, and one year with nine months suspended for driving under suspension. Following his release, Irwin will be on probation, which he says he's never been on before.

Irwin still has a pending charge in Morton County of Class C felony driving under the influence. He is slated to stand trial for that charge on Jan. 17. If convicted, he faces five more years in prison.

Irwin is now in orientation at the penitentiary. He no longer sports the menacing, pointy goatee from his most recent jail mug shot. His brown and gray flecked handlebar moustache is neatly trimmed, as is his thinning light-brown hair. His black-rimmed glasses are hooked to the collar of his prison-issue white T-shirt, and his prison identification tag is hooked to his chest. Blue pants and white velcro sneakers complete his look.

Sitting in the prison's visiting room, Irwin talked about his struggles with alcohol and the legal system.

Irwin said he started drinking during his high school years, but his serious problems with alcohol didn't start until much later.

During high school, he was a wrestler, played brass in the band and didn't do too shabby in class. He also worked construction, beginning at the age of 14.

Irwin's first brush with the law came during his senior year at Bismarck High School. He was sentenced to four years in prison for a conviction for receiving stolen merchandise, the result of buying a stolen motorcycle. He had to finish high school while in prison.

After he was released, he moved to southern California, where he worked in the automotive industry.

Sometime during the 1970s, Irwin lost his driver's license, which he still does not have today and won't be eligible to get until at least 2073 because of his repeated DUI and driving under revocation convictions. He won't talk about how he lost his license, but he said it was not in a drunken-driving incident.

In the mid-1980s, he came back to Bismarck, where his family still lives and returned to working construction. He got married and had four children with his first wife.

He said his problems with alcohol started in the early 1990s, after he and his wife divorced. Irwin began partying hard, had little respect for himself or the law and "really didn't care."

"I had no goals or no aim to finish anything," he said.

Irwin said his main problem remains that he has continued driving despite not having a driver's license. When police see him driving, they pull him over. Most of the time, the traffic stops yield driving under revocation charges. Often, they've led to driving under the influence charges.

Not driving has not been easy for Irwin. He has to take tools to work as a concrete finisher, so the bus is out of the question. For a while, he tried taxis, but that could cost him $80 a day. When he gets out, he hopes to rely on family, co-workers and friends for rides.

Over the years, the media caught wind of Irwin's many convictions and arrests. He became the "poster boy" for a change in drunken driving laws in 1997 that require a person's fifth driving under the influence charge in seven years to be a felony.

Irwin has been labeled one of North Dakota's worst drivers - a designation he dislikes because he says he's actually not a bad driver. Despite his many DUIs, he's never been involved in a wreck.

"I don't like it," he said about the attention. But he said his problems have hurt his family more than him.

Irwin's four children from his first marriage, now in their upper teens and early 20s, have turned out well, he said.

"They're all good kids," he said.

His daughter lectures him about his behaviors, but his sons don't say much. But he knows people say things to them about him.

"I know it bugs them," he said.

Irwin now has two grandchildren, who are about the same age as the two children he has with Amanda. He also plans to adopt Amanda's 3-year-old from a past relationship. He said he's different with the younger children, who all are less than 2 years old, than he was with his first four kids - more patient, more laid back - which Amanda said was more noticeable during the month he spent taking the breathalyzer tests.

"It was amazing," she said.

Caring for three children alone hasn't been easy, nor has having a spouse in prison been easy, Amanda Irwin said.

"It's been really difficult," she said.

Irwin said he gets support from his parents, who live in Bismarck, as well as from "stand-up citizens" he knows in the community. That support somewhat makes up for the people who want to see him fail, he said.

"They do want to see someone make a positive change," he said.

Amanda Irwin said Craig made the decision to quit after Wefald ordered him to undergo the breathalyzers.

"Up until that point, he hadn't made a decision not to drink," she said.

During the three years she's known Irwin, he would "crack a beer" almost every morning and keep drinking throughout the day. Taking the breathalyzers gave Irwin a chance to experience "sobriety in the real world" rather than just forced sobriety while incarcerated. She thinks the experience will carry over once he's released.

"People can do incredible things when they put their mind and heart into it," she said.

Amanda Irwin also is a recovering alcoholic and said her husband not drinking makes it easier for her not to drink.

"It's easier, because the support goes both ways," she said. "It's a team effort. One can't do it without the other."

Irwin will be on supervised probation when he gets out of prison, and he'll be required to continue with the breathalyzer tests. Irwin said he's never been given probation before. He was paroled once, 13 days before his scheduled release, but his parole was revoked within three days for drinking.

"I've never gotten a chance before at parole or probation," he said, then thought for a moment. "I've never really tried before, either."

Stenehjem thinks Irwin is a good example of how the program can help people get off alcohol.

"If he can do it, probably anybody can," the attorney general said.

Craig and Amanda Irwin hope Stenehjem's program can have the same effect on other people as it has had on them.

"I think it's a great idea - a great program," Amanda Irwin said. "Our little family is reaping the benefits."

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.)