Paynesville driver who killed two admits vehicular homicide
By Linda Vanderwerf Today at 3:51 a.m.
LITCHFIELD, Minn. -- A 28-year-old Paynesville driver who had been drinking has pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation in the August deaths of two teenagers and serious injury of a third.
According to the charges filed in Meeker County District Court, Benjamin Lee Tate crossed the center line traveling southbound on state Highway 24, crashing into a vehicle carrying the three teens in the northbound lane.
Travis Monson, 19, and Zachary Rohbeck, 16, both of Watkins, died in the crash. Kathleen Prestidge, 16, of Montrose, was seriously injured.
State troopers on the scene of the crash Aug. 25 said Tate had bloodshot, watery eyes and smelled strongly of alcohol, according to a criminal complaint on the charges.
A preliminary breath test showed Tate had a blood alcohol level above 0.08 percent, the legal driving limit in Minnesota.
The plea agreement specifies a sentence of 58 months in prison, or just under five years. That is the presumed sentence for the two criminal vehicular homicide counts under Minnesota guidelines.
Tate is set to be sentenced Aug. 8 in Meeker County District Court.