Youtube Confessor Sentenced in Fatal DUI

23 Oct, 2013

An Ohio man was sentenced Wednesday to 6 1/2 years in prison for causing a fatal wrong-way crash after a night of heavy drinking, which he had confessed to in an online video.

Matthew Cordle, 22, had faced up to 8 1/2 years in prison. “Whatever my sentence may be, there’s no fair sentence when it comes to the loss of a life,” Cordle told the judge before the sentence was handed down.

Franklin County Judge David Fais sentenced Cordle to six years for aggravated vehicular homicide and six months for driving under the influence of alcohol. He also revoked his driving privileges for life.

Cordle apologized to the family of his victim, Vincent Canzani, who was killed in the June crash. “It should have been me that night, the guilty party, instead of an innocent man,” he said.

His guilty plea last month came just a week after he was indicted in a speedy process absent of the numerous court filings that usually cause such cases to drag on for weeks or months.

Canzani’s daughter asked Fais for the maximum sentence. “My father got a death sentence and did nothing wrong,” Angela Canzani told the judge.

In a 3 1/2-minute video posted in early September, Cordle admitted he killed a man and said he “made a mistake” when he decided to drive that night. “My name is Matthew Cordle, and on June 22, 2013, I hit and killed Vincent Canzani,” he says somberly. “This video will act as my confession.”

AP

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