A twenty-year-old man pleaded guilty to driving drunk and causing the death of two of his young passengers, all underage drinkers, and was sentenced to up to six years in prison, as reported by the Montgomery News.
C.J.M. entered his plea in Montgomery County Court on June 12. He faced charges of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol, homicide by vehicle, DUI, recklessly endangering other persons and speeding.
Judge William J. Furber Jr. told the filled courtroom, "This is an unspeakable tragedy," and they should rely on "family, friends and faith" to recover from their losses.
The two men that died were C.J.M.'s passengers E.T.C., 19 and R.W.N., 19. Both boys were popular in their high school's lacrosse team.
E.T.C.'s father testified, "Your lack of responsibility took the heartbeat out of my life", that his son had been "destined for greatness" and "he was an exceptional person, student, friend and teammate."
R.W.N.'s mother added her testimony next. She said, "What you did, you took my heart, my soul away. There's not a day goes by I don't cry for my son. Hopefully, in your life you make better choices than you did that night."
"Extensive" negotiations between the families of the victims were made, according to Senior Deputy Attorney General Anthony Forray, before a plea agreement was agreed on. Forray told Judge Furber that the families "do not want this matter to proceed to trial."
C.J.M., 19 at the time of the crash, cried as he addressed the courtroom saying, "There are no excuses for what I did that night. There are no words to describe how sorry I am. It breaks my heart to know they don't have their sons anymore,"
According to the testimony, at the time of the crash C.J.M. drove 97 mph in a 35 mph zone and had a blood alcohol content of 0.117 per cent – over five times the 0.02 limit for a driver under 21.
On August 6, 2011, C.J.M., as alleged by authorities, planned to drive four boys home from a party where underage drinking had taken place. The other two passengers that survived the crash are D.N. Jr., 18, and T.K., 19. Both boys, along with C.J.M., were treated for their injuries at Abington Memorial Hospital.
While traveling westbound on Witmer Road, C.J.M. drove his 2007 two-door Honda Civic off of the roadway. The vehicle hit a curb and came to a rest after striking two trees. C.J.M. traveled approximately 405 feet after loosing control of the vehicle.
Court records show that open bottles of rum and brandy were found at the crash site.
Detectives David Bussenger and Mark Minzola filed the criminal complaint after noting that C.J.M. "displayed clues of impairment" during the field sobriety testing. Detectives also noted that C.J.M. lied about where he had spent time before the crash, denied drinking alcohol and claimed to not know the names of his passengers.
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