Man Sentenced to 9 Years in Fatal DUI Crash案: Georgetown Man Sentenced to 9 Years言[${city}立- The Full Story Inside], US

DANVILLE — A Georgetown man was sentenced Wednesday to nine years in prison for driving drunk and causing a car crash that killed three people in 2022. Vermilion County Judge Derek Girton handed down the sentence to Anthony S. Austin, 47, after he pleaded guilty in February to one count of aggravated driving under the influence causing the death of two or more people. Lee Hall, 52, Felisha Hall, 46, and their daughter, Madison Hall, 18, all of Oxford, Ind., were driving in a pickup truck on the Catlin-Indianola Road in southern Vermilion County on Oct. 2, 2022, when Austin, who was driving southbound, hit their vehicle head-on. The crash punctured the truck’s gasoline tank and both vehicles caught fire, Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy said. Evidence from an autopsy showed that Lee and Felisha, who appeared to have been wearing seatbelts in the front seat, died from blunt-force-trauma. Madison had soot in her lungs, which indicated she was still alive after the impact and died from the fire. Austin’s defense attorney, Evan Bruno, said people who heard the crash pulled Austin, who was unconscious, from his flaming vehicle. He was seriously injured, with multiple broken bones. When emergency personnel arrived, the family’s truck, which had been towing an enclosed trailer containing a race-car with race fuel, was so engulfed in flames that it could not even be approached, Lacy said. The three were pronounced dead on the scene. The penalty range for a DUI resulting in two or more deaths is six to 28 years in prison. Austin’s plea agreement capped his sentencing range to 20 years. Recommending that Austin be sentenced to the maximum, Lacy presented evidence from a crash reconstruction expert that showed Austin was traveling at a high rate of speed when he went around a curve and lost control of his vehicle. His blood alcohol content was 0.167 percent, twice the legal limit. Lacy said she argued that a 20-year sentence would provide deterrence, as Austin chose to drink and get behind the wheel. Written by Lee’s sister, Felisha’s brother, and the one surviving son of Lee and Felisha, Lacy said the letters conveyed the grave loss and huge impact the tight-knit family has suffered by losing three members all in one night. Austin’s defense attorney, Evan Bruno, recommended that his client be sentenced to six years in prison. Bruno noted that Austin, who was a plumber employed by the University of Illinois and a single father of twin boys he raised from a young age, had no criminal history beyond a couple speeding tickets. Bruno called four witnesses to the stand — Austin’s sister, counselor, girlfriend, and coworker — who all described him as a nice, hardworking, quiet, and even-keeled man, the attorney said. In the courtroom, Austin apologized to the Hall family in the gallery. It’s one of those cases where you’ve got someone who has lived an absolutely impeccable, admirable life and there’s just one moment of horrible tragedy, Bruno said. Austin must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence. He was given 516 days credit already served for wearing a GPS monitor outside of jail while awaiting his sentencing. As a result of Austin’s plea, the state also dismissed one count of aggravated DUI causing the death of another and one additional count of aggravated DUI causing the death of two or more people.