COLFAX, WA – A 31-year-old Thornton man has received the maximum jail sentence for seriously injuring a Colton man when he was driving drunk and caused a crash on U.S. Highway 195.
Riley Maley was drunk being the wheel of his pickup when he blew a stop sign on Ralph Henning Road at US195 on Saturday night April 26th. Maley hit a Southbound pickup driven by 71 year old Richard Hattan. Hattan was seriously injured and was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. Maley left the crash scene and drove home where he was quickly located and arrested by local law enforcement. The Washington State Patrol found that Maley’s blood alcohol level was 0.21 which is over two times the legal limit.
Maley pleaded guilty to felony vehicular assault on Friday in Whitman County Superior Court. Prosecutor Denis Tracy asked that Maley be sentenced to six months in jail which is the middle of the standard range in this case. Maley’s private defense attorney asked that his client receive three months in jail which is the bottom of the standard range. The man that Maley seriously injured asked Judge Roger Sandberg to deliver the maximum sentence. Judge Sandberg agreed with Hattan’s request and sentenced Maley to nine months in jail. You can listen to a portion of Judge Sandberg’s sentence below.
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Judge Sandberg also sentenced to Maley to a year of probation and ordered him to undergo an alcohol evaluation and comply with any treatment recommendations. He must also pay 5,000 dollars in restitution to Hattan. Maley took responsibility for the crash and apologized to Hattan and Judge Sandberg during Friday’s sentencing.