Duluth Chamber of Commerce president pleads guilty to drunken driving

DULUTH - Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce president Matt Baumgartner has been sentenced to two years of probation after pleading guilty Friday to second-degree charges of drunken driving.

Baumgartner, 39, was found nodding off in his car after crashing his Nissan Pathfinder through a gate at a downtown parking ramp in mid-September. The conditions of his probation include not using drugs or alcohol and attending a Mothers Against Drunk Driving panel. According to court documents, Baumgartner was fined $50 and avoided a jail sentence by adding an ignition interlock system to his vehicle — a device that uses a Breathalyzer to detect traces of alcohol in a driver's breath.

Baumgartner had already taken preemptive measures before last week's virtual hearing in front of Judge Gary Larson in St. Louis County District Court, he said. He spent about a month at Hazelden Betty Ford and has continued outpatient treatment and therapy. He signed up for drug and alcohol assessments.

"I didn't need to wait for anything to happen within the court system to know I wanted to be a better and different person," Baumgartner said Tuesday. "It's one thing to have to go through things where you have embarrassed yourself; when you put your family through something it hurts even more."

Baumgartner's blood alcohol content, according to a blood-draw analyzed by Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, was 0.295%, far exceeding the state's legal limit of 0.08%. He faced two charges following the Sept. 20 incident, but one was dropped as part of his plea deal.

Baumgartner replaced longtime chamber president David Ross in summer 2021. Before that, he spent 15 years with Grandma's Restaurant Co.