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A 21-year-old Hilo man is going to federal prison for two years for a vehicle crash that killed his friend in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park last year.
U.S. District Judge David Ezra went along Friday with the sentence to which Julien T. Quiocho agreed when he pleaded guilty to negligent homicide earlier this year in a deal with the federal prosecutor.
Bryson Areola, 20, also of Hilo, died in the June 12, 2011, crash. Areola was a passenger in a truck driven by Quiocho.
Ezra said he would not have gone along with the deal had Areola’s father not agreed with it.
"Twenty-four months in my view is a very small price to pay for a loss of life," Ezra said.
Arnold Areola told Ezra he agrees with the plea deal if Quiocho learns from his mistake.
The maximum prison term for first-degree negligent homicide is 10 years. The advisory federal court sentencing guidelines recommended a prison term of 30 to 37 months.
In addition to the prison term, Ezra ordered Quiocho to pay the Areola family $7,040 in restitution and to perform 100 hours of community service in each of the three years he will remain under court supervision following his release from prison.
Areola was fatally injured when the pickup truck he was in ran off Highway 11 and crashed in a lava field. He and Quiocho, who was driving the pickup, were thrown from the vehicle.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Song said the pickup truck was traveling faster than 100 mph when it skidded and left the roadway.
Song said Quiocho’s blood alcohol content was 0.13. The legal threshold for drunken driving is 0.08. Quiocho was 19 years old at the time of the crash, too young to legally consume alcohol.
Quiocho apologized to Areola’s parents and sisters in court Friday and said he regrets what he did. He said he does not have any memory of what happened.
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