<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Friday, March 29, 2024
March 29, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

WA man sentenced to 31 months in fatal crash

The Columbian
Published: March 31, 2011, 12:00am

TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — The 30-year-old driver in a drunken crash that killed a young pastor two weeks before his wedding day has been sentenced to two years and seven months in prison.

Joseph McNeil of Sumner, Wash., apologized Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court to the family of 24-year-old Samuel Stephens. McNeil earlier pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide. His lawyer Brett Purtzer described the Sept. 6 crash as “an aberration in an otherwise law-abiding life.”

Stephens’ fiancee Emily Nolte addressed the court before the sentence was handed down, telling Judge Elizabeth Martin, “I’ve never felt more alone in my entire life.”

With credit for time already served, McNeil will spend about 18 months behind bars.

Loading...