A state Superior Court panel Tuesday denied an appeal by a repeat drunken driver who claimed his prison term for causing a crash that killed a pregnant woman is “unduly harsh.”
That decision means Samuel Corey, 28, of Mansfield will spend up to a quarter-century behind bars.
Samuel Corey
Corey’s trip to prison began when he collided head-on with a car driven by 26-year-old Ceaira Kirkner on Feb. 4, 2019. Kirkner was ejected from her car and died at the scene. Her two young children, who were in car seats, weren’t injured.
Police charged Corey, who had drugs and alcohol in his system at the time of the crash, with homicide by vehicle while DUI, President Judge Emeritus Kate Ford Elliott noted in the state court’s opinion.
Five months after the fatal crash, Corey was charged with another drug- and alcohol-related DUI offense for an unrelated incident.
He pleaded guilty in both cases and was sentenced by Bradford County Judge Evan S. Williams III to 8 years and 9 months to 25 years in prison.
Corey’s own lawyer regarded his appeal of that punishment as frivolous. Elliott agreed. She cited Williams’ reason for imposing the penalty given that an unborn child was a victim in the case as well as its mother.
“I do believe that if there (were) ever a circumstance where an aggravated range sentence was appropriate, this would be it, to in some way take account for the fact an unborn child’s life was terminated far too early,” Williams concluded.