Bennett gets 15 years for vehicular homicide

Almost one year after an accident which left one Thompson Falls woman dead, John Thomas Bennett, 20, of Thompson Falls was sentenced to 15 years with 10 suspended in Montana Department of Corrections custody for vehicular homicide while under the influence of alcohol.

Bennett broke down in court before District Judge Deborah Kim Christopher handed down the sentence.

“I’d like to apologize to everybody I’ve hurt throughout this process,” he said. “I wish I could bring Christina back, but I can’t.”

Bennett was driving his 1994 Chevy pickup truck under the influence and at a high rate of speed the afternoon of August 13, 2007, when the vehicle struck a pine tree and flipped over, uprooting and severed another tree while airborne. When the vehicle came to a rest, Bennett, along with Gomez and the other passenger, Jessica Shively, were trapped. Bennett was traveling 65 mph in a 25 mph zone.

Gomez was pronounced dead at the scene and Shively was transported by ambulance to the Clark Fork Valley Hospital. Bennett was taken by helicopter to Kalispell for treatment. Gomez was 18 years old.

At the sentencing hearing, paralegal with the county attorney’s office, Suzanne Cooperman, read a statement prepared by the victim’s mother, Leslie Gomez.

In the letter Gomez said that Christina was her youngest child and only daughter and that the “terrible accident could’ve been avoided.”

Gomez said that she sits in Christina’s room and sobs knowing that her daughter is gone and that holidays will never be the same again. The letter also said that she hopes a proper punishment is given and that Bennett uses his second chance for rehabilitation and to make something of his life.

Judge Christopher said the sentence was in accordance with the plea agreement. In addition to the 15 years, Bennett also received six months in the Sanders County Jail for criminal endangerment and speeding. He will also have to donate $3,000 to a trust fund that has been set up in Gomez’s name, pay restitution to the family for medical and funeral costs, pay the Montana chapter of Mother’s Against Drunk Driving (MADD) $100 a year for 15 years in Gomez’s name, go to counseling through MADD, and give one presentation a year for 15 years at a local high school about the dangers of alcohol and drinking while driving. Bennett will also have to forfeit his driver’s license for at least two years. It will only be returned to him afterwards by the permission of his parole officer, if Bennett meets all the conditions of his probation.

Christopher said Bennett will have the opportunity to be screened for pre-release.

“We’re going to give him the opportunity to live the life that Christina might have had,” Christopher said. She added, “good luck” to Bennett when the sentence was handed down.