Homicidal driver gets 10 years
A man whose crash killed his passenger is again guilty of DUI
A Circuit Court judge ordered an admitted alcoholic and multiple drunken-driving offender to the maximum 10 years in prison yesterday for first-degree negligent homicide.
Brett Allen Ragan, 34, had asked for a combination of probation and a shorter jail term to prove he can be a good citizen.
"I want to be a better person," Ragan said.
But state Circuit Judge Derrick Chan said any question about how much jail time he deserves was answered when he was arrested and convicted for drunken driving nine months after the fatal crash that killed a passenger in his car.
Ragan was behind the wheel of a convertible car that flipped over on Date Street, killing passenger David Joshua, 23, Aug. 3, 2006. Police said speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.
Before that, Ragan was arrested for drunken driving in Missouri in December 1996 and in Kansas in December 1999, said Deputy Prosecutor Darrell Wong. Ragan was convicted both times and placed on probation, Wong said.
Then, prior to being charged in the 2006 Date Street crash, Ragan was arrested in Arizona last May for drunken driving, Wong said. He served 10 days in prison following his conviction.
Chan ordered Ragan to begin serving his jail term immediately and also ordered him to pay $6,569 restitution for Joshua's funeral expenses.