LIVINGSTON COUNTY – A local teen was sentenced in the County courthouse on Tuesday for causing a single-car rollover accident that killed his friend, 16 year-old Connor Gilbert, in August 2013.
A somber Judge Robert Wiggins sentenced the 19-year-old driver, who was granted youthful offender status, to 38 days of weekend incarceration at the Livingston County Jail and five years’ probation for Criminally Negligent Homicide. He will be required to drive only one vehicle for the next five years, which will be equipped with an interlock breathalyzer, to pay a $1,000 fine, and to drink no alcohol during that period. He took an emotional moment to address the packed courtroom before his sentencing.
“I would like to say I’m sorry to the family,” said the driver. “I do realize that my actions have changed my life, and their lives, forever.”
Judge Wiggins carefully reminded the driver that although he was about to be sentenced for a felony, there was nothing that a judge could do that would reverse or make better the tragic results of that night in August.
“I do hope that is coming from the heart,” said Judge Wiggins. “Nothing will ever make this go away. That doesn’t mean that you should be condemned forever, or that you can’t have a productive life, but someone else will not be able to do that because of your actions.”
An investigation by the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office revealed that the young man lost control of his truck, which then rolled over and struck several trees. Gilbert died at the scene.
PHOTO CAPTION: File Photo.