An Ithaca man has been sentenced to 2 1/3 to seven years in state prison for a drug- and alcohol-related crash that killed his passenger in Schuyler County.
Michael A. Blake Jr., 19, received the maximum allowable sentence Thursday from Schuyler County Court Judge Matthew Hayden, according to District Attorney Jeremy Hourihan. The judge also denied Blake youthful offender status.
Blake pleaded guilty June 4 to second-degree vehicular manslaughter, a felony, and driving while ability impaired by drugs, a misdemeanor.
During his plea, Blake admitted consuming alcohol and drugs before driving. Prosecutors said he was a permit-only driver and had used marijuana and alcohol over about an hour before the crash on County Road 1.
Evidence showed Blake was traveling faster than 90 mph as he approached a left curve with a suggested speed of 30 mph, according to the district attorney's office. His vehicle had a temporary spare tire on the front passenger side, left the road and struck a tree.
The collision killed the passenger and nearly split the vehicle in half, prosecutors said. A blood test detected THC and measured Blake's blood alcohol content at 0.06% at the time of the crash.
The Schuyler County Sheriff's Department and its criminal investigation division investigated the case. Hourihan prosecuted it.
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