Cherokee County Judge Orders Drunk Driver To Prison For Life

NewsOn6.com

TAHLEQUAH, OK -- A 31-year-old Kansas man has been sentenced to 150 years in prison after being convicted in January of three counts of first-degree manslaughter stemming from a fatal DUI crash. 

Cherokee County Assistant District Attorney David Pierce says Anthony Whitney II was charged with the death of a father and his two sons after a crash in Cherokee County in October 2008. 

The crash on State Highway 82 north of Tahlequah resulted in the death of Rudy Gourd, Russell Gourd and Eli Gourd, all from Locust Grove. 

Pierce told NewsOn6.com the judge followed the jury's recommendation and ordered three 50-year sentences to run consecutively. 

Pierce says under state sentencing guidelines, Whitney must serve 85 percent of each 50-year sentence. That means he will serve just over 126 years in prison before he would be up for parole. 

During Thursday's sentencing, Pierce said he read three victim impact statements from family members. He also said a pre-sentence investigation showed Whitney had a history of alcohol abuse.