Michigan Center man faces 2-7 years behind bars for 2020 Somerset fatal crash
HILLSDALE — A Michigan Center man charged with numerous crimes in connection with a fatal crash on U.S. 12 in Somerset will plead no contest to reduced charges to finally end the two-year-old case.
Casey Lee Isom accepted a plea deal Monday, Dec. 12, in the 1st Judicial Circuit Court of Hillsdale County.
The 32-year-old appeared in court via video teleconference, at which time his attorney, Keith Stickley, said Isom would be pleading no contest to operating while intoxicated causing death and operating while intoxicated causing serious injury.
In exchange, the Hillsdale County Prosecutor’s Office agreed to dismiss charges of operating while intoxicated, operating while license suspended and operating under the influence of drugs.
More:Arrest made in connection with fatal crash
Prosecutors also reached a “killebrew agreement” that Isom found acceptable, where the minimum advisory sentencing guidelines estimated at 3.5 years in prison would be lowered to 2 years. The high end of the advisory sentencing guidelines came back at 7 years, Stickley said.
With details of the plea deal placed on the record, Judge Sara S. Lisznyai read onto the record excerpts from a police report that indicated Isom was under the influence of amphetamine and methamphetamine on March 20, 2022, while driving a vehicle on U.S. 12 near Waldron Road in Somerset when he crossed the centerline striking another vehicle head on.
Isom told Somerset Police Chief Keith Bancroft that he had looked down to change the radio station just before crashing into the smaller SUV.
More:1 dead, 1 injured in multiple crashes on U.S. 12
The passenger from the SUV — 57-year-old Denise Ruhl — was pronounced dead at the scene and an autopsy confirmed she died from multiple traumas. The driver of the SUV, Patricia Burroughs, suffered severe injuries including an open fracture and a traumatic brain injury, which caused her to lose consciousness.
Witnesses said Isom was “all over the roadway” just prior to the crash when interviewed by police, the report said.
Lisznyai also read an excerpt from a report prepared by DJ Simpson, an expert in the field of neuropharmacology, which was requested from the prosecutor’s office.
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Simpson’s report explained in detail that, in his expert opinion, the amount of amphetamine and methamphetamine in Isom’s blood would have compromised his ability to operate a motor vehicle safely.
Following the plea hearing, Lisznyai ordered that Isom’s bond be revoked and that he report to the jail immediately to turn himself in.
He is tentatively scheduled for sentencing at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 6.
— Corey Murray is the Public Safety Reporter for The Hillsdale Daily News, Sturgis Journal and The Daily Reporter. Contact him by email at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Plea deal settles March 2020 Somerset fatal crash case
