A Wisconsin man who crashed into a ditch after drinking with his mother, then ran from the scene and left her dying inside the car, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison.
Casey Yiannackopoulos, 48, pleaded guilty to homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle in connection with the death of his 77-year-old mother.
He was sentenced to 18 years behind bars, followed by eight years of probation.
Yiannackopoulos had originally faced additional charges of first-degree reckless homicide, hit-and-run involving death and two counts of resisting or obstructing an officer.
During his sentencing hearing, he turned toward his family and apologized.
“The closest thing to God you will feel is the love of your mother,” he told the judge, according to local NBC affiliate WTMJ.
Judge Ralph Ramirez said the apology did not erase what Yiannackopoulos had done.
“I know that Mr. Yiannackopoulos keenly feels the loss of his mother, but I refuse to feel sorry for the man who caused the death of his own mother,” Ramirez said.
The deadly crash happened at about 7:15 p.m. on Nov. 2 in the S7100 block of Hillendale Drive in Muskego, a suburb of Milwaukee.
When police arrived, they found Yiannackopoulos’ mother unconscious but still breathing in the front passenger seat. She was the only person inside the vehicle, and the driver was nowhere to be found.
First responders had to break through the front and rear passenger-side windows to pull her from the wreckage.
She was rushed to a hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead about an hour later. Her name has not been publicly released.
According to a probable cause affidavit, several witnesses saw Yiannackopoulos flee after the crash.
They told investigators he appeared intoxicated, was unsteady on his feet and smelled strongly of alcohol.
Yiannackopoulos allegedly told witnesses he was going to get help, but police said he never did.
Home surveillance footage reportedly captured the crash and showed him driving at least 50 mph in a 30 mph zone before leaving the road and slamming into the ditch.
Investigators later learned that his mother lived just down the street from the crash scene.
When officers entered the home, they found a ladder leading to a crawl space and noticed that the plywood door was slightly open.
Police said Yiannackopoulos refused to come down and instead yelled and cursed at officers.
At about 10:45 p.m., authorities sent a drone into the crawl space and found him hiding beneath blankets and a plastic storage-bin lid.
He eventually had to be physically removed and taken into custody, according to the affidavit.
Officers said Yiannackopoulos had bloodshot, glassy eyes when he was arrested.
He allegedly told police the crash “was an accident” and claimed he would have been “way more cooperative” if he had known at the scene that his mother had died.
During an earlier court appearance, Court Commissioner Daniel Rieck called the alleged conduct “depraved.”
“This went from driving while drunk, having what one would presume is a very unfortunate, traumatic accident, losing your mother, but then quite literally leaving her to die,” Rieck said, according to WISN. “Why? Because you didn’t want to get in trouble.”
