MASON CITY – This Iowa woman from the Waterloo area has paid many thousands of dollars to Iowa courts for her past drunk driving crimes, and after she was caught in Cerro Gordo county driving carelessly and drunk once again, escaped the heavy hand of the law.
The Iowa State Patrol nabbed 56-year-old Michelle Higdon Pardue out of the Waterloo area back on March 26, 2025. Pardue was spotted by a trooper in Cerro Gordo county, driving carelessly with no insurance. A traffic stop and investigation revealed that Pardue was drunk and could furnish no proof of insurance. Due to her numerous drunk driving crimes in her decorated past, Pardue was charged with felony third-offense operating while intoxicated, a defective muffler, and no proof of insurance.
In a plea deal she worked out with her public defender, Pardue eventually pleaded guilty to careless driving, which cost her $112.50, but the charges of no insurance and careless driving were dismissed. The charge of felony drunk driving was diminished to second-offense operating while intoxicated, and she was sentenced to 365 days in jail, with all but 30 days suspended. She had to agree to be monitored for alcohol, and pay Iowa courts $2,156.25.
After other drunk driving arrests, Pardue was last nabbed for drunk driving in Buchanan county in 2023. She eventually pleaded guilty to second-offense operating while intoxicated and it cost her $2,924.11 to Iowa courts, and 365 days in jail with all but 20 days suspended. However, she was placed on two years of probation on October 22 of that year in her sentencing, and she is no accused of violating that due to her arrest and conviction in Cerro Gordo county. A warrant for her arrest was issued by a judge almost immediately after her sentencing in Mason City, and she was arrested. She posted a surety bond, was released from jail, and entered a not-guilty plea to the probation violation charge.
Pardue was busted for drunk driving (first-offense) in Bremer county in 2007 and it cost her $1,011.00. She was also busted in 2014 in Black Hawk county for drunk driving (second-offense) and it cost her $2,641.25.
My homeboy hooked up with tis lady.
don’t worry, he was a white man too.