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Westport resident Matthew Packer was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in prison for the 2009 drunken driving accident that killed his friend, Lance Cpl. Charles Rochlin, a U.S. Marine and Westport native, The Hour reports.
Packer, 26, also received five years of probation and was ordered by Judge Bruce Hudock to undergo substance abuse counseling and to speak at schools about the dangers of drunk driving.
Back in February, Packer pleaded guilty to drunken driving and second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle in the Dec. 27, 2009 car accident. As part of a pre-sentencing plea arrangement, he has been in prison ever since.
Rochlin, 24, was a 2003 Staples graduate. He was home on leave after a seven-month tour of duty in Iraq.
On the night of the accident, Packer lost control of his Jeep Grand Cherokee and crashed into a tree on Greens Farms Road. Police said his blood-alcohol level was .21 more than twice the legal limit.
Prior to the sentencing, Rochlin's sister spoke out.
"A true friend wouldn't have put my family through what he put them through," 22-year-old Brittany Rochlin said, according to The Hour.
The full story can be read here.
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