BALLSTON SPA >> Dennis Drue, of Halfmoon, whose high-speed intoxicated driving killed two Shenendehowa students just over a year ago and seriously injured two others, was just sentenced in Saratoga County Court to 5-15 years in prison.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I never meant to hurt anybody.”
More details to come shortly.
In September, Drue pled guilty to 58 charges including 52 felonies surrounding the Dec. 1, 2013 crash that claimed the lives of Christopher Stewart, Shenendehowa’s football team captain, and Deanna Rivers, a member of the school’s softball team.
Since pleading guilty, he has remained free on $50,000 bail.
Family and friends of the teens are expected to attend the 1:30 p.m. sentencing.
Family members have urged Saratoga County Court Judge Jerry Scarano to hand down the stiffest punishment possible. Scarano said Drue might be sentenced to 5 to 15 years in state prison, followed by three years of post-release supervision.
Drue, 23, was intoxicated, had marijuana in his system and was driving 80 miles per hour when he ran into a car by Stewart on the northbound side of the Northway. A check of cell phone towers along the Northway found that Drue had been texting shortly before the crash and took no evasive action to avoid the accident. Marijuana was also found in his car.
Bailey Wind, Stewart’s girlfriend and a Shaker High School diving team member, and Matt Hardy, Rivers’ boyfriend and Stewart’s football teammate, were seriously injured. All four 17-year-olds were returning from a University at Albany-Siena men’s basketball game.
Scarano said he might be sentenced to 5 to 15 years in state prison, followed by three years of post-release supervision.
The crash generated national interest. A candlelight rally at Shenendehowa High School was attended by thousands of students and parents from high schools throughout the region and included an emotional visit by Hardy, who was released from his hospital bed for the tribute.
Hardy, despite suffering a broken hand, leg and ankle, returned to Shen’s gridiron team and scored a touchdown in the team’s first game this fall.
Wind, who sustained a serious spinal cord injury, still requires therapy, but is competing this year with the University of Tennessee’s diving team.
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