Plea agreement reached in Resler drunk driving case

Daniel Wade Resler, culpable for the March drunk driving deaths of two teenagers, was bound for the Department of Corrections after agreeing to plead guilty to a pair of felony vehicular homicide charges Tuesday.

According to the plea agreement, for each felony charge, Resler, 32, is to serve 30 years in the Department of Corrections, with 25 years of the respective prison terms suspended. Resler is to be incarcerated for at least one year prior to becoming eligible for the Watch Program - described by Sanders County Attorney Coleen Magera as an "intensive treatment program." The plea agreement also stated that subsequent to completing the Watch Program, Resler will be considered for pre-release and intensive supervision programs.

Resler, driving a 2003 Dodge pickup truck under the influence of alcohol, struck Bradley M. Williams, 19, and Kyle D. McCullugh, 16, about a mile east of Plains on Highway 200 just before 2 a.m. March 3.

Magera said that the victims' families agree with the community service component of the plea agreement - which will require Resler to clean a one-mile stretch of Highway 200, make $100 donations in the names of Williams and McCullugh annually and work with either the Montana chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving or local schools on drinking and driving education for the next decade - but feel the prison term is inadequate.

Magera noted that no plea agreement conditions could alleviate the pain of the victims' loved ones, but said the agreement represents just resolution, particularly in light of "several evidentiary concerns that had to be considered in the negotiations."

The victims' families had requested respective prison terms of 19 and 16 years, representing the ages of Williams and McCullugh at the time of their deaths, Magera said. District Court Judge Deborah Kim Christopher said she would accept the terms of the plea agreement.

Resler, affirming statements made by his attorney, admitted he was driving a truck while under the influence of alcohol and caused the deaths of Williams and McCullugh. Christopher ordered a pre-sentence investigation, and scheduled Resler's sentencing for March 4. Montana Highway Patrolman Tony Cox, the case's chief investigator, had reported that the teenagers were bound for Plains along the westward lane of Highway 200 when they were hit by the truck Resler was operating. Cox said Resler, who was heading west, apparently drifted from the right side of the highway into the gravel and struck Williams and McCullugh. He then appeared to have overcorrected, traveled back across both lanes and drove into a ditch on the south side of Highway 200, at which point his vehicle rolled over.

According to an affidavit, Williams was pronounced dead at Clark Fork Valley Hospital. After being transported to the Clark Fork Valley Hospital, McCullugh was taken by Life Flight helicopter to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. He died the following day.