Thursday, Sept. 4, 2003 | 9:20 a.m.
A Utah man who while driving under the influence caused a traffic accident that killed a Florida couple on U.S. 95 outside Boulder City was sentenced to 48 years in prison Wednesday.
George Andrew Robinson, 52, who pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and two counts of involuntary manslaughter, will be eligible for parole in 12 years under the sentence by District Judge Donald Mosley.
Before handing down the sentence Mosley said there were "terrible ramifications for Robinson's incorrect actions."
"That's why this offense is so distasteful," he added.
Robinson was driving his Ford Bronco north on U.S. 95 when he rear-ended a Ford Thunderbird driven by Joseph Haslem, 49, and his wife Juanita, 48, that had stopped for road construction behind a cement truck. The Thunderbird was pushed under the truck and the Haslems were killed.
Juanita's daughter, Ashley McCarrick, 20, was in the back seat and critically injured.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said Robinson's blood alcohol level at the time of the accident was 0.24. The legal limit in Nevada is 0.10. He also told the judge that Robinson has a history of DUI offenses.
Booker said after the accident that witnesses said Robinson's main concern was throwing beer cans from his truck into the desert so that police would not find them.
Robinson told Mosley that he was sorry for what happened and that he wakes up every morning knowing the pain he caused the victims' families.
"I am gonna pay for it for the rest of my life," he said.
Robinson's attorney, Thomas Ericsson, asked the judge to consider the lack of intent in the case. He said Robinson did not intend to harm anyone.
"His heart grieves for what has happened to this family," Ericsson said.
Before Mosley issued a sentence, three members of the victim's families addressed the court, including Ashley McCarrick, who was hospitalized for three weeks following the accident. She had four fractures in her face, a broken jaw and suffered brain injuries.
McCarrick said she does not remember the accident or watching her mother die in the car.
"It's like I woke up one day and my whole life changed," she said.
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