NEWS
Butte man gets 6-year deferred sentence for fatal crash
The Associated Press
BUTTE (AP) – A 19-year-old Butte man who caused a crash that killed a passenger on Halloween 2013 has been given a six-year deferred sentence.
The Montana Standard reports Cody Richards was sentenced Thursday for the death of 19-year-old Kiel Podgorski. Richards pleaded guilty in March to negligent homicide.
Defense attorney Greg Jackson said his client had been drinking and was unable to control his vehicle as he tried to negotiate a curve on icy roads. The Montana Highway Patrol found Richards was driving too fast for road conditions when his vehicle went off a county road and down a steep embankment.
Richards and two other men — Wayne Worley, then 30, and Tyler Weddle, then 19 — were treated for injuries and released.