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News / Northwest

Judge blocks release of man who killed 2 in crash

The Columbian
Published: January 7, 2012, 12:00am

ASTORIA, Ore. (AP) — A man who killed two people in a drunken driving crash in 1999 was slated to be released this month by the Oregon Department of Corrections’ interpretation of his sentence before a judge ordered him to stay in prison.

James Willie, who was convicted of manslaughter in the deaths of Martin Ferlitsch and his granddaughter, was scheduled to be released on Jan. 27, the Daily Astorian reports (http://bit.ly/zYQOHM ).

But Willie’s original sentencing judge said Friday that a three-year sentence on an additional assault charge stemming from the fatal crash still needed to be served.

Willie will remain in prison until 2015.

Willie could have faced 40 years in prison for the crash, but accepted a plea deal that reduced the sentence to 15 years.

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