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Driver sentenced in wrong-way crash that killed 2 men

Posted March 25, 2019 7:00 am

The Associated Press

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A southern Illinois man who pleaded guilty earlier this year in connection with a 2017 vehicle crash that left two men dead has been sentenced to prison.

St. Clair County Circuit Judge Zina Cruse on Monday sentenced Kevin Helfrich of New Athens to 18 years in prison for the crash that left 37-year-old John Bannister and 36-year-old Daryl Harton dead. He was given a month to report to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Bannister and Harton were driving back from celebrating their anniversary on July 8, 2017, when the 55-year-old Helfrich's truck crashed head-on into their car on Illinois 15 in Belleville.

Investigators said they found cold cans of beer and prescription pill bottles in Helfrich's truck after the crash.

Prosecutors alleged Helfrich's blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit at the time of the accident.

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