A Marinette man has been sentenced 25 years in prison for a car crash that killed a family. The crash on US-41 killed Wrightstown resident Joel Rivas and four of his children, two of whom were pregnant. Forty-year-old Richard Allen Powell is alleged to have been drinking and speeding when he broadsided the Rivas’ car, which had just turned onto the expressway.
At the time of the January 2009 crash, Powell claimed he was changing radio stations and did not see the Rivas car in time to avoid hitting it. He later pleaded no contest to five counts of Homicide by Intoxicated Use of a Vehicle.
Marinette County District Attorney Allen Brey called the deaths “a terrible tragedy” and said Tuesday’s sentencing needed to send a message. At the hearing, Powell said he was full of regret and had asked for forgiveness.
Powell’s prison sentence and 15-years of extended supervision is a-third of what he could have received.
Ken Conners-WAGN reports (:52)