Weller, who had 6 previous drunk driving convictions, will serve a 15- to 18-year state prison sentence.
PITTSFIELD — Frederick Weller, of Newtown, Conn., pleaded guilty to multiple counts in Berkshire Superior Court on Thursday in connection with a Feb. 28, 2012 motor vehicle accident that killed a 24-year-old Sheffield woman and seriously injured a 53-year-old Connecticut man.
Weller, 36, who has an extensive criminal record in four states and multiple parole violations in Connecticut, will serve a 15- to 18-year state prison sentence.
Moira Banks-Dobson, of Sheffield and Hillsdale, N.Y., died from multiple traumatic injuries in the accident when her car was demolished by Weller’s truck on Route 7 in Sheffield. Weller’s truck also caused massive injuries to Russell Brown, of Canaan, Conn., a manager at the Great Barrington McDonald’s restaurant.
Weller pleaded guilty to one count of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence and operating to endanger, one count of operating under the influence of alcohol, serious bodily injury and operating to endanger, one count of operating under the influence of alcohol (5th offense), one count of intimidatino of a witness or other person, one count of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, death resulting, one count of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, two counts of leaving the scene of a property damage accident and one count of operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license.
Judge John Agostini sentenced Weller to a 12- to 14-year state prison sentence at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Cedar Junction on the charge of motor vehicle homicide while under the influence of alcohol and operating to endanger, and a 3- to 4-year state prison sentence, to be served on and after the first sentence, on the operating under the influence of alcohol, serious bodily injury and operating to endanger charge. He was given concurrent jail time on the other charges.
Agostini said Weller is a "serious criminal at times a violent criminal" with "a clear disrespect for the law in every aspect," according to the Berkshire Eagle.
The investigation of the accident was conducted by members of the Sheffield Police Department.
Records show Weller was jailed for drunk driving in Waterbury, Vt., in 1994; in Bennington, Vt., in 1997; in Chicopee in 2004; in Waterbury, Conn., in January 2005, and in Stratford, Conn., in December 2005. He was arrested in February 2010 East Fishkill, N.Y., on what would be his sixth known drunk-driving offense, but served no time on that charge after pleading guilty to drunk-driving “1st offense,” according to court records.