A Clarion man accepted a plea deal last week and was sentenced in a homicide by vehicle while DUI case.
Clarion County President Judge Sara J. Seidle-Patton sentenced Mitchel Allen Davenport, 24, to a total of seven and one-half to 15 years in state prison.
Davenport was driving along Route 338 at the intersection with Ritts Farm Road in Richland Township, Clarion County, last May 4 when he lost control of his vehicle and smashed into an animal pen, killing Jerrold E. DeHart who was inside the shed.
The sentences will run consecutively, and Davenport was given credit for 218 days he has already served.
The plea and sentencing, which happened Friday, was due, in part, to a change in the law.
Clarion County District Attorney Drew Welsh said Davenport entered into a plea agreement in October but withdrew the plea when it was learned a state law had been changed.
It was noted during a Nov. 20 hearing that Davenport initially entered his plea contingent on an understanding of a mandatory minimum sentence on the homicide by vehicle while DUI charge of three years confinement. But the mandatory minimum was increased to five years in 2018.
Welsh said a trial for Davenport had been scheduled to start Monday.
Welsh said his office alerted DeHart’s family and friends, and about 40 people showed up for the sentencing Friday.
“His (DeHart’s) mother and brother-in-law spoke. It was incredibly emotional,” said Welsh. “They were looking for accountability. Many of them wore T-shirts with Mr. DeHart’s face on them.”
“The mandatory minimum was five years,” said Welsh. “What the judge did was give him the top end of the guidelines. I feel this was a very good sentence.”