A Boise man convicted of drunken driving six times is going to prison for at least five years.

Rafael Cisneros, 37, had a blood-alcohol content of .277 and was on probation for a 2010 felony drunken driving conviction in Ada County when Caldwell police arrested him June 17 at the Sage Travel Plaza, 2929 Franklin Road. A clerk had called police to report a possible drunken driver. The legal limit for driving is .08.

Cisneros told police he drank six to eight beers before driving. Police say he had an open container of alcohol in his car, no driver's license and a warrant out of Oregon for failing to show up in court for another felony DUI. It was his ninth arrest for DUI.

Third District Judge Juneal C. Kerrick on Thursday sentenced Cisneros to 10 years in prison, with eligibility for parole after five years. Deputy Prosecutor Will Fletcher told Kerrick that prison is the only way to stop Cisneros from driving drunk and killing himself or someone else, according to a Canyon County news release.

Prosecutors dismissed a sentencing enhancement that would have sent Cisneros to prison for life for being a persistent violator.