In a change of plea hearing, an Alaskan man has pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and DUI in Kenai superior court, as reported by the Peninsula Clarion.
At first C.H. Jr. had pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and driving under the influence for his role in a deadly crash last January.
C.H. Jr., 60, had driven his car into a snowmachine driven by G.L., 47, that propelled G.L. from his vehicle – killing him at the scene. The incident occurred near Brown’s Lake Road and Seclusion Street.
C.H. Jr. will serve four and one half years of jail time for the criminally negligent homicide charge and six months for the DUI misdemeanor, as part of his plea deal.
Both are to be served as active jail time for a total five years.
C.H. Jr. acknowledged that his conduct was the most serious as outlined in the definition of a criminally negligent homicide. An aggravator was also imposed – an aggravator
allows a judge to enforce a harsher sentencing than what the crime would normally mandate.
Judge Anna Moran told C.H. Jr., “You should understand that when the court makes a finding of one of those aggravators, should you have to come back in – if you have a violation of your probation – the court could use that in deciding the appropriate sentence.”
If C.H. Jr. violates a term of his parole or probation once he is released, he could be ordered to serve four years of suspended jail time.
The aggravator can affect how much of the suspended sentence he would have to serve if he violates his parole or probation, but the aggravator doesn’t change the underlying agreement.
C.H. Jr. has also been ordered to pay a $5,000 fine – $1000 of which has been suspended – and his license has been revoked for three years and thirty days. He has been ordered to not have any contact, directly or indirectly, with the deceased man’s wife.
Lastly, C.H. Jr. must attend an alcohol treatment program and submit to alcohol screenings.
Eric Derleth, C.H. Jr.’s defense attorney, told the court that his client is seeking to enter an in-patient alcohol treatment program in Anchorage.
Though released on bail, C.H. Jr. is currently under house arrest, wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet and is only allowed to leave his home to attend court hearings and other approved appointments.
The monitoring device in place not only tracks his movement via a GPS device, it also monitors the presence of alcohol in his system.
In regards to the monitoring bracelet, Aaron Parker, the director of APS, stated, “It's my understanding that he would end up being on this at least until sentencing.”
Judge Moran is to make the final decision during the sentencing whether or not the deal is too strict. Moran said, “The court is allowing it today, but once we get all the information, the court can always say, ‘Well no, this isn't appropriate.’”
The hearing is set for August 25.
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