Dad who let 15-year-old drive gets prison time after fatal accident
A Scarsdale, New York, dad who let his unlicensed teenage daughter drive his sports utility vehicle during a vacation in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania last year has been sentenced to prison time for the fatal accident that resulted.
Michael Ware, 54, was given 6½ to 16 years in prison Thursday by Wayne County Judge Raymond Hamill, who called him “a failure as a father,” among other criticisms, according to the Allentown Morning Call and the Journal News.
Ware pleaded guilty last month to three counts of involuntary manslaughter and three counts of recklessly endangering another person. He initially told state police that his daughter, Julia Ware, then 15, had taken his Chevrolet Suburban without his permission. She was previously sentenced to community service and probation, as a juvenile, after admitting her guilt.
Driving back from breakfast with five other teens on Aug. 30, 2014, Julia Ware was speeding and lost control of the SUV, which flipped several times in Paupack Township, authorities said. Shamus Digney, Cullen Keffer and Ryan Lesher, all 15-year-old residents of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, were fatally injured, another passenger was seriously injured and Julia Ware and another girl were reportedly uninjured, the Journal News reported.
Hamill criticized Michael Ware for failing to take responsibility and apologize prior to sentencing. The judge also said Ware’s daughter had told investigators she had been behind the wheel earlier and had put more miles on the SUV than her dad the weekend of the accident.
“Your failure to be a father and say ‘No’ caused these tragic deaths,” Hamill told Ware. “A car is a deadly weapon as the families of Cullen, Shamus and Ryan know well.”
Attorney Robert Reno represents Michael Ware, who plans to appeal, the Intelligencer reports.
“This sentence under all circumstances is ridiculous,” Reno said.
