Helena,MT : Busby man gets probation for fatal DUI crash on June, Wednesday 14th 2017

A 20-year-old Montana man who told a judge he made “a dumb mistake” in driving drunk and getting into a crash that killed his 16-year-old cousin has been sentenced to five years on federal probation for involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors had recommended a 2 ½ year prison sentence for Torren Jon Russell of Busby for the May 2015 death of Paul Foote on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.

Authorities say Russell, Foote and three others had been drinking and the others eventually allowed Russell to drive. The Billings Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2styCQU ) Russell acknowledged drinking about a dozen beers.

Assistant Federal Defender Gillian Gosch recommended probation Wednesday, saying Russell made a stupid decision, but that it wasn’t normal conduct for him.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters granted probation, saying Russell’s conduct that night was an aberration.



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Busby man gets probation for fatal DUI crash