GREAT FALLS (AP) -- Two men involved in a street race that killed one man and severely injured another have been sentenced to prison.
District Judge Thomas McKittrick on Thursday sentenced Michael Patch, 22, to 30 years behind bars, with 15 years suspended, on a negligent homicide charge, and 10 years for felony criminal endangerment. The sentences will run concurrently.
Roger Conant, 25, received two 10-year sentences, with five years suspended on each, for two criminal endangerment charges. The sentences will run consecutively. The judge also sentenced Conant to six months in jail on a drunken-driving charge and ordered that he pay restitution. McKittrick said he would set the amount later.
Prosecutors said that after a night of heavy drinking, Conant and Patch decided to race their vehicles down a Great Falls street in November 2004. When the vehicles crested a hill, the pickup Patch was driving in the wrong lane crashed head-on into a car driven by Michael Moore.
Moore, 19, died at the scene. A passenger, 18-year-old Joseph Leffler, sustained crippling injuries, Cascade County Attorney Brant Light said Thursday.
The judge offered victims' family members an opportunity to speak at the hearing.
April Leffler, Joseph's younger sister, read a letter on behalf of her mother, which said, ''I can forgive you, but I can't forget.'' Joseph Leffler did not wish to attend the hearing.
''The brother I looked up to most is not my brother anymore,'' April Leffler told the court. ''We have suffered a lot.''
Conant and Patch both pleaded guilty to the charges earlier.
Patch will begin serving his sentence after completing the 10 years he is currently serving for violating conditions of his parole in a previous felony theft case.
Posted in State-and-regional on Friday, October 28, 2005 11:00 pm
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