HOT SPRINGS - A
Northglenn, Colo., man was sentenced to a seven-year term in the
South Dakota State Penitentiary for his role in an early-morning
auto accident near Edgemont on Labor Day last year.
Seventh Circuit
Judge Jeff Davis set the sentence Friday morning at the Fall River
County Courthouse.
Jack Brunton
pleaded guilty to a charge of vehicular homicide for the death of
his female passenger, 37-year-old Tami Ane Ryan of Lakewood, Colo.,
who died at the scene of the accident.
Brunton and Ryan
had been headed toward Colorado when the 2007 Dodge Caliber, which
Brunton was driving, left the road and rolled in the south ditch
approximately six miles east of Edgemont.
An investigation by
the Fall River County Sheriff's office found nearly one and
one-quarter ounces of methamphetamine in the vehicle, two digital
scales and other drug paraphernalia as well as
marijuana.
Brunton was charged
with distribution of a controlled substance, possession of
marijuana and drug paraphernalia in addition to the vehicular
homicide charge.
The other charges
in the arraignment were dropped in exchange for Brunton's guilty
plea.
Brunton will
receive credit for 160 days served in the Fall River County Jail
and will also receive credit for time served while he awaits
transport to the penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
Brunton was also
ordered to pay court costs and the cost of his court-appointed
attorney fees.
