A Florida big-rig driver — a reported illegal immigrant whose multi-vehicle crash on an Ohio highway killed a local father and his 11-year-old son — has been handed a strikingly lenient 20-day jail sentence, according to court records and social media posts from law enforcement advocacy groups.
Lima Municipal Court Judge Tammie K. Hursh sentenced 53-year-old Yvio Michel to two consecutive 10-day jail terms after he pleaded no contest to charges connected to the February 28 wreck on I-75 that took the lives of 52-year-old Hurshel Gipson and his son, Michael.
Crash Details
The collision occurred around 8:30 p.m. near Cridersville, Ohio, when traffic slowed due to a vehicle fire. Michel, a Haitian national reportedly living in the U.S. illegally while seeking asylum, was driving a tractor-trailer northbound and failed to slow down, plowing into a line of stopped vehicles.
The chain-reaction crash involved four passenger cars and another semi, trapping the Gipson family’s Buick SUV between two heavy trucks. Hurshel and Michael Gipson died at the scene. Amanda Gipson, 45, the boy’s mother and the driver of the Buick, survived with severe injuries and was hospitalized. Several other motorists were also injured.
Plea Deal and Sentence
Prosecutors offered Michel a plea deal. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts — negligent homicide and vehicular manslaughter — while authorities dropped three other charges, including a second homicide count and failure to maintain distance.
Judge Hursh suspended the majority of Michel’s jail time, imposing a 90-day sentence for the homicide charge (with 80 days suspended) and a 180-day term for manslaughter (with 170 days suspended). In addition to 20 days in jail, Michel received a two-year license suspension, six points on his driving record, and $1,000 in fines plus court costs.
According to a tweet from Blue Lives Matter, a law enforcement support organization, Michel’s jail stay is set to end Sept. 21. The group’s post, which has gone viral, expressed outrage over the sentence, calling it a “slap on the wrist” for the deadly crash.
ICE Detainer Pending
Michel’s release from local custody may be brief. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed a detainer on Michel and plans to take him into federal custody the moment he is released from the Allen County jail, according to the report.
The case has reignited debates over immigration enforcement and judicial sentencing, with critics pointing to Michel’s immigration status as a factor in the public reaction. Supporters of harsher penalties for reckless driving leading to death have also questioned the leniency of the plea agreement.
Attempts to reach Judge Hursh’s office for comment were not immediately successful. The Gipson family has not publicly commented on the sentence.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-immigrant-gets-20-day-slap-on-the-wrist-for-crash-killing-ohio-dad-and-son