CARLTON, Minn. — Brandon Westby stood before a crowded courtroom Monday and asked a judge not to incarcerate the man responsible for his father’s death.
Westby said he’s a Christian who believes in forgiveness. So was his father, Justin David McNeil, the 61-year-old Moose Lake man who was struck by an impaired and distracted driver, Brent James Keranen, on March 21 in northeastern Minnesota.
Westby said he’s also the father of two young children who will make their own mistakes in life. He’s a U.S. Army veteran who served three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, himself experiencing the heavy toll of trauma.
“It’s clear to me he, too, will carry the weight of his actions,” Westby said of Keranen. “It’ll forever be part of him, and he’s likely to feel his own PTSD. … Sentencing him to time in prison will not benefit this young man.”
Judge Rebekka Stumme called it the “most remarkable statement” she’s ever heard in her career as a defense attorney, prosecutor and judge, commending Westby for the “bravery it took to get up and say that in front of a courtroom of mostly strangers.”
After hearing from six other community members, Stumme granted the request made by both the victim’s son and defense attorneys.
Brent James Keranen (Courtesy of the Carleton County sheriff’s office)
Keranen, 22, of Pengilly, will avoid a four-year prison term if he complies with 10 years of supervised probation, including participation in a treatment court and 150 hours of community service work related to impaired driving prevention, among other conditions.
“In this court’s opinion, I don’t need to send Mr. Keranen to prison to change his behavior and make this right,” Stumme said, noting his acceptance of responsibility, active participation in therapy and support from more than a dozen people in the courtroom Monday.
Witness recounts efforts to save life
McNeil had just left Dollar General and was walking on the shoulder of Minnesota 73 when Keranen suddenly veered onto the shoulder and hit him.
About an hour earlier, Keranen had been cited after hitting a Minnesota State Patrol squad car as he left the Twin Cities. A breath test showed Keranen had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.066, just under the legal limit, court documents said.
After the second crash, Keranen reportedly told authorities he had the cruise control set to 52 in a 40-mph zone, a good song came on the radio and he was playing “air guitar” when he “struck someone.”
A blood test after the second crash revealed Keranen had methamphetamine, cocaine and THC in his system, as well as alcohol at a concentration of 0.054.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal vehicular homicide in early October, with three other counts of the same offense dismissed.
Erica Sandberg, a sergeant at the nearby Minnesota Correctional Facility, was also on the road when she saw what she initially thought was a deer hit by Keranen’s car. She described a gruesome scene as she and others frantically attended to McNeil.
Sandberg was doing chest compressions when she recalled someone saying, “Erica, you can stop. He’s gone.”
“I can’t stop. Not yet,” she recalled thinking. “I remember saying, ‘I’m so sorry that I couldn’t save you.”
Sandberg, who pushed for a stronger sentence, said she’s still haunted by that day. She now sees every deer on the side of the road as McNeil. She feels a sense of panic every time she approaches the intersection on her way to work, but refuses to change her course because “I have to be there.”
The tragedy even prompted her to search for McNeil’s family, eventually finding Westby.
The victim’s son said he was never close with his father, not even meeting him until he was 5. They stayed in touch over the years but were never able to spend as much time together as they hoped, owing to Westby’s military family and young family.
Judge grants ‘safer’ sentence
The court also heard from Keranen’s family and friends. They described him as a young man who excelled as a leader in school and athletics. He earned a good job as an electrician, but the nature of traveling trades work may not have been right for him.
“He got involved with the wrong crowd,” said former Nashwauk Police Chief Jim Maddern, who otherwise described Keranen as kind and considerate. “He’s easily influenced and he knows that.”
Brenda Keranen said her son has a “big heart” and knows at age 22 that he can do better in life.
“He doesn’t eat,” she said of the months following the crash. “He doesn’t sleep. He knows Mr. McNeil was someone’s family and friend. He prays for them.”
Keranen, who said he now wants to follow in his father’s footsteps as a firefighter, told the court that day “changed my life forever in a blink of an eye” and apologized to everyone impacted by his actions.
“I don’t blame them if they have a feeling of hatred toward me, because I would, too,” he said of McNeil’s family. “I hoped that one day they could forgive me, and today is that day, so thank you.”
Carlton County prosecutor Michael Boese, in contrast, asked the court to send Keranen to prison. He particularly highlighted Keranen’s earlier collision with the patrol car and the fact that he apparently consumed alcohol and drugs while headed north that day.
“Mr. Keranen was on notice at that point that he had to take himself off the road, and he didn’t,” Boese said. “There has to be a sanction. … Not that I like the idea of a 22-year-old going to prison, but this is a serious, serious case.”
Judge Stumme said the sentencing had been weighing on her for several weeks. She called it a “tragedy that has affected more people than we can even count,” but the comments she heard Monday outweighed the recommendations of state guidelines.
Still, Stumme said the sentence was not a “slap on the hand.” Keranen has already been accepted into the intensive Itasca County Wellness Court program. He’s also expected to perform his community service with Mothers Against Drunk Driving or a similar program.
Crucially, probation also keeps him under supervision for the next 10 years — compared to just four if he was sent to prison — and the judge said she’ll schedule review hearings to determine if he’s meeting expectations or needs to face time in custody.
“This will make the community safer,” Stumme said. “I can’t say the same if you were released from prison — that you would end up better or that the community would end up better.”
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