The DUI penalties for being convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol vary widely by geography but will almost certainly be harsh wherever you go.  You can search online in order to find the exact penalties that are wielded in your town or county drunk driving.

At very least, a person who is convicted of drunk driving is likely to lose their license to drive for a period or potentially even permanently.  This can have a huge impact on your life, especially if you commute by car to work or need to drive as part of your job.  In some cases, you will be able to drive to work but not use a car at any other time.  It's possible that a alcohol breath detector will be installed in your car which means that you will need to verify that you have not been drinking before you are able to start the car.  A DUI conviction also means that the cost of your car insurance will shoot through the roof.  Even if you have not had an accident, the fact that you were caught and convicted of driving will drunk means that you are a dramatically risky driving and the insurance costs will rise to reflect this.  In most cases, a DUI conviction is a felony.  This can mean a significant fine that could be $10,000 or even $100,000.  In addition, it's possible that you will be facing some amount of prison time.  Finally, a felony conviction may make it difficult to hold on to your job and may result in future jobs being difficult to get.  In some locations, a felony conviction means that you will temporarily or permanently lose the right to vote.

The DUI penalties will be ever more severe if this is not your first time: In the case of your first DUI conviction, you may be granted some leniency as a first time offender. Once you have been convicted a second time, the judge and jury will see no reason for mercy and wield strict penalties that can have a huge impact on your life. 

The best way that most people avoid the harshest DUI penalties is to have a good lawyer who can help make sure that all the correct procedures and rules were followed when you were tested and arrested, and who knows all of the legal technicalities that can make it much more likely to escape a conviction and other harsh penalties.  It's critical that if you escape a DUI conviction once, do not allow yourself to ever be in the same position again because it's much less likely that you can beat a second DUI charge.