October 2, 2018
A New
Hampshire man will spend at least two and a half years in prison after
admitting on Monday to the drunk driving crash in 2017 that killed his
friend who was a passenger in his car.
Stephen
Driscoll, 27, of Bedford, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty in Rutland
criminal court to three misdemeanor charges: negligent driving that
resulted in a death, driving under the influence of alcohol and reckless
endangerment.
When Driscoll’s car crashed on March 18, 2017, his passenger, Alejandro Phoenix, 30, of Rockland, Massachusetts, was killed.
During the hearing, Driscoll read from a letter he had written to Phoenix’s family.
“Eight
years ago, I was brought into a group of friends that became my family
and Alejandro was a part of that family. A night that was supposed to be
filled with laughter and celebration ended in tragedy for so many and
for that I am truly and wholeheartedly sorry,” he said.
For
the first two charges, Judge Samuel Hoar sentenced Driscoll to 23 to 24
months. Both of those sentences will be served at the same time. The
sentence of seven to eight months for reckless endangerment will be
served after the other two, making the overall sentence 30 to 32 months.
A
fourth charge, driving under the influence of alcohol with death
resulting, which is a felony, was dismissed by the state under the plea
agreement Driscoll entered on Monday.
Explaining
the basis for the charges on Monday, Rutland County Deputy State’s
Attorney Ian Sullivan said Driscoll and some friends were visiting
Killington on March 18, 2017.
The
group of friends had rented a taxi to take them to and from a bar they
visited but after arriving back at the house they were renting, Driscoll
and Phoenix got into Driscoll’s Ford Focus.
Sullivan
said they didn’t drive far before the car went off Tanglewood Drive and
into a tree. Driscoll suffered minor injuries but Phoenix suffered
significant head injuries and died on the scene.
Asking
Hoar to accept the plea agreement, Sullivan said the state appreciated
the foresight shown by Driscoll and his friends in arranging
transportation to and from the bar they visited in March 2017.
“Unfortunately,
tragically, after having drank, after having returned to the house,
that same level of awareness of foresight wasn’t present and it did have
fatal consequences,” he said.
Attorney George Ostler, who represented Driscoll, called his client an “outstanding young man.”
“To
have a young man with his background, with his future, accept, as part
of his responsibility, to be in prison for 30 months, that’s really
taking responsibility for your conduct,” he said.
Before
accepting the plea agreement, Hoar said Driscoll was suffering a “hefty
punishment” but he said he hoped it would send a “powerful message”
about responsibility.
“The mark
of a person, the mark of a man, is how he or she responds to a mistake.
We all make mistakes and we all hope that the mistakes we make don’t
have the kind of tragic consequences as the mistake you made on March
18, 2017,” he said.
When a
person is being convicted of a serious charge, a pre-sentence
investigation, conducted by the Vermont Department of Corrections, is
ordered by the judge before the sentence is finalized but on Monday,
Driscoll’s change of plea was accompanied by an agreement and a
sentencing memorandum prepared by Driscoll.
Driscoll,
who has no previous criminal history, was released on Monday but
ordered to report to the Rutland jail on Oct. 29 to begin serving his
sentence.
patrick.mcardle
@rutlandherald.com
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