‘He stole everything.’ Man sentenced for fatal crash that killed two people

By Daniel V. Ramirez

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    POCATELLO, Idaho (eastidahonews.com) — A truck driver involved in a fatal crash that killed two people two years ago has been sentenced and will spend eight years in prison.

Kenneth Dale Conley had originally plead not guilty to two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter, but accepted a plea agreement. In exchange for a guilty plea, the prosecution recommended a retained jurisdiction with an underlying sentence of five years fixed and five years indeterminate.

Rejection of plea agreement

However, the agreement was not binding on the court, and District Judge Javier Gabiola, during the sentencing, advised that he was not going to follow the agreement.

Gabiola asked Conley multiple times if he understood his right to withdraw his guilty plea and have the case heard before a jury trial. Conley’s attorney, David Martinez, said he was maintaining his guilty plea.

This led to issues when Gabiola sentenced Conley to eight years fixed and 12 years indeterminate. Martinez raised the issue, believing the court would follow the underlying sentence of five years fixed and five indeterminate.

Gabiola’s reasoning for the sentencing was based on Conley’s actions on the day of the fatal crash. He cited Conley’s pre-sentence investigation that indicated Conley was aware the brakes on the dump truck he was driving were not operational, but he still drove it.

“The fact that you did get into a vehicle that you admit to, which was not properly functioning, is a huge concern to this court,” Gabiola said. “What happened here is awful. It’s horrific. And this was all caused by what you did and what you knew.”

Martinez argued that there is no factual basis to correlate the brake failure with the accident, and believes he and his client were misled.

“What has happened here today has rendered my advice to my client moot and made me ineffective,” Martinez said. “He can pursue a post-conviction on that, and we’ll see if this ever returns.”

Gabiola reaffirmed his position that he had never accepted a plea agreement, and a 10-minute recess was granted for Martinez to discuss this issue with Conley.

Aftewards, Martinez said Conley is going to accept the sentence due to his client’s belief that “he doesn’t think he’s going to live that much longer.”

Conley was also ordered to pay $10,490 in fines and $2,500 to the two families of the victims.

“He stole everything, they deserve to live full on lives,”

Three victims spoke during the sentencing on Aug. 8, which involved Monique Morale’s younger sister and mother, along with the mother of Jaren Goering.

Stacie Sweetow explained how her life was shattered when she received notice of her son’s death.

“It wasn’t just my son, he was a fiancé, an uncle, a brother and a best friend to me,” Sweetow said. “To me, his words and kindness touch countless lives, and there weren’t many people he didn’t like; his heart was that open.”

Monique’s sister, Mariah Morales, was a passenger of the car in the fatal accident and the only survivor. Mariah detailed how her life changed in a single moment while driving to work with Monique and Goering.

“The sounds that took place as he drove over us with more than 30,000 pounds were inhumane,” Mariah said.

She described looking to her sister for help after the initial crash and seeing her unconscious and Goering sustaining significant injuries and feeling helpless.

Later learning that both died from their injuries, Mariah said she struggled with the guilt of being the only one alive while her sister and her friend died.

“They both had so much life left in them, and the defendant stole that. He robbed them of their futures,” Mariah said. “He stole everything. They deserve to live full-on lives, but he took that from them.”

Natahsa Pimental spoke next, citing reporting from EastIdahoNews.com that highlighted Conley’s past behaviors. This sparked an objection by Martinez, but Pimental was allowed to continue.

“They said Conley had nearly caused numerous crashes, and they were worried that he would kill someone,” Pimental said. “To find out that he got in his truck knowing that his brakes weren’t working, also speeding in the construction zone, makes this all so much harder today.”

Pimental stated that she had to accept the plea agreement, which recommended a rider. Now, knowing that Conley will serve time behind bars, she feels justified in Gabiola’s decision.

“The fact that you have walked free and act like nothing is wrong or that it didn’t matter. Your choices, they killed my oldest daughter, Monique and Jaren,” Pimental said.

Attorneys argue After the victim impact statements were given, Martinez said he took issue with the news article referenced by Pimental.

He said Conley had expressed concerns to his bosses about the construction vehicles and the pressure he was under to work faster.

Martinez said this case is the definition of an accident and was not intentional.

However, Martinez said in speaking with Conley, his client fully acknowledges the loss for the families, and this is the reason why Conley agrees to maintain his guilty plea even after Gabiola rejected the agreement.

“He feels that that is what’s best for the victims, their family and and he would like to have some closure to this matter,” Martinez said.

Martinez gave two recommendations to the court, with the first, depending on whether Conley is safe to be back in the community, being placed on a rider and then later probation.

If not, he had concerns about placing a 60-year-old man in prison, but to have a sentence of two years fixed and eight years indeterminate.

“I don’t know how his health will continue to be maintained, so I don’t know how much time he’ll serve,” Martinez said.

Conley was given a chance to give a statement, and he said he thinks about this every day, and it hasn’t gone away.

“I’m sorry that it happened. I’m really sorry, but that’s I gotta live with that for the rest of my life,” Conley said. “I will always know that I took the lives of two people.”

Bannock County Prosecutor Ian Johnson said this case is rare due to the heightened level of care needed to operate a commercial vehicle, given the potential risk of harm it poses. Thus, a need for regulations like a log book and inspections to ensure cases like this are avoided.

For those reasons, Johnson recommended a sentence of five years fixed and five years indeterminate.

However, Martinez said a log book of problems with the truck involved, which by that logic muddies the waters where it shouldn’t.

“No amount of regulation will ever stop people from having accidents,” Martinez said. “It’s a tragedy, but to suggest that there’s somehow some intermediate standard between intent and negligence is legally unsupportable.”

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