HALIFAX -- A Nova Scotia man who has been described in the courtroom as the “worst of the worst” impaired drivers has died in a New Brunswick prison.

Correctional Service Canada says Terrance Naugle, an inmate at Dorchester Penitentiary in Dorchester, N.B., died Saturday from “apparent natural causes following an illness.”

While his death is not considered suspicious, it is standard for Correctional Service Canada to review the circumstances surrounding the death of an inmate. 

Naugle was sentenced in September to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to eight charges in connection with three impaired-driving incidents between July 2019 and February 2020.

He had been serving his sentence at the Dorchester Penitentiary since Sept. 22, 2020.

At Naugle’s sentencing in September, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Jamie Campbell said the 15-year sentence was appropriate for a man with 71 prior convictions -- including 23 related to impaired driving and 15 for driving while prohibited -- a record the judge called "appalling."

The judge also noted that 62-year-old Naugle had lung cancer and that his prognosis was not good.

According to the agreed statement of facts read in court, Naugle was arrested in Dartmouth, N.S., on July 16, 2019, after he hit a car that had stopped for a pedestrian at a crosswalk. He sped off in his SUV, but was stopped by police. He performed poorly on a sobriety test and was charged with impaired driving and driving while prohibited.

On Oct. 12, 2019, Naugle was stopped by military police in Eastern Passage, N.S., after he ran a red light and almost collided with the officer’s vehicle. He refused to give his name and the officer called the RCMP. Naugle was charged with driving while prohibited and obstructing police.

Naugle was again arrested on Feb. 4, 2020, when he was caught driving a stolen vehicle on Highway 107 in Porters Lake, N.S. Police also found drugs in his possession. He was charged with impaired driving, driving while prohibited, possession of stolen property and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

Naugle had previously received an eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence and a permanent driving prohibition in 2010 after pleading guilty to impaired driving. That sentence was appealed, but the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal upheld it in an April 2011 decision.

He also had dozens of other similar criminal convictions dating back to 1974.

With files from The Canadian Press