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Drunken boater gets 5-15 years in fatal Michigan crash

Posted January 19, 2015 10:00 pm

The Associated Press

Brandon Verfaillie, left, of Chesterfield Township, stands next to his lawyer, James Thomas, during his sentencing at the St. Clair County Courthouse, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, in Port Huron, Mich. Verfaillie was sentenced to at least five years in prison for a boat crash that killed two people near Harsens Island in eastern Michigan. (AP Photo/The Port Huron Times Herald, Jeffrey M. Smith) NO SALES The Associated Press

PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) - A drunken boater was sentenced to at least five years in prison Tuesday for a crash that killed two people near Harsens Island in eastern Michigan.

Brandon Verfaillie, 32, said he deeply regrets what happened last August when the speedboat smashed into a cabin cruiser in a channel of the St. Clair River. Relatives of the victims said the tragedy will linger.

"I want you to appreciate that I never got to say goodbye to my wife," Robert Axford said in court.

Verfaillie will be eligible for parole after five years. His maximum sentence is 15 years in prison. The Port Huron Times Herald (http://bwne.ws/1yGW8YO ) said he was led out of court in handcuffs.

The victims were Robert Koontz, 52, of Chesterfield Township and Nancy Axford, 68, of Winnipeg, Manitoba. A third person was injured.

"If he could take back what happened on that day he would," defense attorney James Thomas said. "It's easy to demonize someone who's involved with a case like this."

Verfaillie's driver's license was suspended at the time of the crash, St. Clair County Judge Michael West said.

"It was clearly preventable on multiple fronts and it is a shame that things happened the way that they happened," he said of the crash.

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Information from: Times Herald, http://www.thetimesherald.com

Brandon Verfaillie, left, is placed into handcuffs during his sentencing at the St. Clair County Courthouse, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, in Port Huron, Mich. Verfaillie was sentenced to at least five years in prison for a boat crash that killed two people near Harsens Island in eastern Michigan. (AP Photo/The Port Huron Times Herald, Jeffrey M. Smith) NO SALES The Associated Press

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