ALFRED – A Hollis man has been sentenced to four years in prison for negligently causing a fatal highway crash two years ago while driving 77 mph faster than the posted speed limit.
Scott York, 24, was sentenced in York County Superior Court, where he pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault.
Justice Paul Fritzsche agreed to a plea agreement stemming from York’s involvement in the March 11, 2000, crash that killed Thomas Hanson, 37, of Windham, and injured Jeremy Davis of Bar Mills.
In addition to the prison sentence, the judge gave York four years of probation to follow his prison term, revoked his driver’s license and ordered him to attend substance abuse counseling.
“Someone died because you were driving way, way, way too fast,” said Fritzsche.
The accident occurred around 4 a.m. in Hollis when York, Hanson and Davis left a party together in York’s 1989 Chevrolet Cavalier. Police say the car took a corner near the intersection of Route 4A and River Road at nearly 122 mph in a 45 mph zone.
The car flipped over as it came around the bend. Hanson, who was in the back seat, was thrown from the car and struck a tree. Both Davis and York suffered serious injuries. Initially, there was some confusion as to who was actually driving the car at the time of the accident: Hanson or York. Assistant District Attorney Kathy Slattery said DNA tests of blood found on the driver’s side of the car matched York’s DNA, proving that he was behind the wheel when the car crashed.
She said York’s blood test after the accident showed cocaine and marijuana in his system.
Defense counsel Christopher Northrop said York does not remember much from the night of the accident. He said York decided to plead guilty because he wanted to take responsibility for what happened.
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