Erie,PA : Erie motorist gets nearly 8 years in fatal DUI crash on December, Tuesday 13th 2017

An Erie motorist who was driving drunk and traveling more than 80 mph when he caused a fatal crash will serve a minimum of nearly eight years in state prison.

The sentence for the defendant, 33-year-old Kevin D. Deck, went into the aggravated range of state sentencing guidelines.

“You set in motion this horrible chain of consequences, and all the harm fell on somebody else,” said Erie County Judge John Garhart. “The harm and hurt you did is never going to go away.”

Garhart sentenced Deck to seven years and nine months to 20 years and six months in state prison.

Deck’s blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit and he was traveling 83 mph in a 25 mph zone when he ran a steady red light in his Dodge Caravan and struck a Chevrolet Blazer at the intersection of East 21st and Ash streets on Nov. 11, 2016, according to trial testimony.

The passenger of the Blazer, 27-year-old Jorge Toledo, was ejected from the vehicle and killed. Investigators found his body about four houses down the street from the point of impact.

The Blazer’s driver, Tina Pierce, was also ejected and suffered serious injuries, including losing her left leg. Toledo was her husband.

Watch video from after the sentencing at http://www.goerie.com/videos

Deck said he barely remembered the crash, in which he was also injured.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anybody,” he said. “The words ‘I’m sorry’ don’t change anything.”

Though Garhart sentenced Deck in the aggravated range of state sentencing guidelines, the judge came short of the prosecution’s request that Deck receive the maximum sentence at each count. Deck could have received as much as 12½ to 25 years in prison if he had gotten the maximum possible sentence.

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Erie motorist gets nearly 8 years in fatal DUI crash