Driver in fatal 2018 bus crash receives lengthy state prison sentence
Mar. 9—Charles Dwight Dixon told a Lackawanna County judge he will never forget Rebecca Blanco.
Her family members and friends would have wished the bus driver never had a reason to know her name.
Dixon was sentenced Monday by Judge Michael J. Barrasse to nine years, nine months, to 20 1/2 years in state prison for the 2018 commercial bus crash on Interstate 380 in Covington Twp. that killed Blanco, 33, and injured several other passengers.
Dixon, 52, of the Bronx, New York, who pleaded guilty in December to homicide by vehicle while under the influence and other charges, admitted he was impaired by cocaine when his Big Red Bullet bus crossed the median and crashed into trees along the highway on Oct. 14, 2018.
Investigators say Blanco, of Vacaville, California, texted the county 911 center shortly before the crash that Dixon was driving erratically. State police were dispatched, but the bus crashed before troopers located it.
Blanco's parents, who addressed the court separately during the remote sentencing hearing, each talked about the depth of their loss.
Esther Blanco said the family had been waiting more than two years to speak.
"There is nothing I could say that could express our loss or grief. You see her as a 33-year-old woman. She is my little girl," the mother told Barrasse, her voice cracking. "She will always be my little girl."
Clay Blanco said one of the last things his daughter told him is that she loved him.
"Those words will be with me forever. ... I miss her. I miss my daughter," he said.
Barrasse also heard from five of the victim's friends, most of whom spoke in front of a "Justice for Becca Blanco" background and called for the imposition of the harshest sentence possible.
Amber Beliakoff, who met Blanco when she was 12 years old, said her friend personified intelligence, wit and inspiration, and brought texture and depth to the lives of everyone who knew her.
Of all the things she excelled at, Blanco was best at being a friend, Beliakoff said.
"You knew you were loved by her because she made sure of it," she said.
Reading mostly from a lengthy statement, Dixon repeatedly expressed his remorse when he was given the opportunity to speak.
He told Blanco's parents and friends they were not the only ones grieving. He called their recollections of Blanco "heart-wrenching."
Dixon acknowledged his actions were selfish but said he is not a monster and asked for "abundant forgiveness." As he finished speaking, he displayed a black-and-white photograph of Blanco.
"I keep her with me. I will never forget her. ... I have to live with this for the rest of my life," Dixon said.
In handing down the sentence, Barrasse said while court supports rehabilitation, it must also consider deterrence and incapacitation.
Dixon had a responsibility to get his passengers safely from one point to another point, he said.
"The court is not going to lecture Mr. Dixon. He knows full well what happened," Barrasse said, calling it a tragedy not only for Blanco's family and friends but also for the other 11 passengers and their family and friends.
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9132
