Sentence for crash angers victim's kin

In exchange for a 10-year sentence, a man pleads guilty to DUI-manslaughter. The victim's parents wanted him put on trial.

LARGO - Tammy Fitzpatrick was infuriated to learn the man accused of causing the crash that killed her 14-year-old son had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit.

Then she was told what Marek Majko said to police two weeks before the crash, when he hit a parked car while leaving a bar, and it sickened her.

"So?" police said Majko told them. "I didn't kill anyone."

She said it showed he deserved the longest sentence possible for killing her son, Ryan.

But on Wednesday, a judge offered Majko a deal before selecting a jury in his trial.

In exchange for a guilty plea to DUI-manslaughter, Pinellas-Pasco Judge Linda Allan offered Majko the most lenient prison term allowed under state sentencing guidelines, 10 years. Majko, 36, took the deal as Fitzpatrick and Ryan's father watched from the gallery, enraged. They wanted a trial and the maximum 15 years Majko faced if convicted.

"The only thing I could do was sit there crying and try to figure out what happened," said Fitzpatrick, a St. Petersburg homemaker. "He should be punished. There's no justice in 10 years. I just feel like I got slapped in the face. It's a big letdown."

As part of the sentence, Majko's driver's license was revoked for life.

Fitzpatrick's son and a friend were riding their bikes along Ninth Avenue N at Eighth Street last July 31 about 11:30 p.m. The friends were headed home after a night fishing at the Pier.

Majko swerved his GMC truck out of his eastbound lane, police said, and into oncoming traffic. Ryan, riding toward the truck in the opposite lane, was hit and dragged 15 feet.

On Wednesday, Allan said she developed concerns about the case and worried that issues raised in recent days might lead to a reversal of a conviction: "Because the plea virtually eliminated the possibility of an appeal and because he will be deported once he serves his time, I felt the best decision was to allow the plea to a very substantial sentence and protect the community as best I can," she said in an interview.

"My heart goes out to the family," Allan said. "But I still felt this was in their best interest, though I know they don't see it that way now."

Majko, a Canadian citizen born in Poland, is likely to be deported to Canada when he is released.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright