Driver's third sentence in DUI case is the lightest
After two prior 40-year sentences are set aside, the driver ends up with 29.3 years in prison in a case involving two deaths.
By Times Staff Writer
Published February 14, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - On Friday, for the third time, Karl Nelson was sentenced for driving under the influence with manslaughter for the 1995 deaths of Mark Fuqua and Stephanie Nicola.
In December 1996, Pasco County Judge William Sestak sentenced Nelson to 40 years in prison. Those sentencing guidelines were later found to be unconstitutional, and in 2001 then-Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge Craig Villanti again sentenced Nelson to 40 years. An appeals court reversed the sentence in November 2003, saying Villanti had abused his discretion by diverging from the guidelines.
"I'm giving great weight to the fact that Judge Villanti and Judge Sestak sentenced you to 40 years," Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge Michael Andrews said Friday when sentencing Nelson to the maximum 29.3 years.
Nelson, now 43, chose to represent himself during the sentencing, saying he had drawn up a life plan for himself in prison and wanted to help the community.
On Dec. 22, 1995, Nelson was racing south on U.S. 19 with a beer bottle between his legs. For nearly a mile, he swerved the wrong way, through the northbound lanes, according to witnesses. Just south of the Hernando County line, he slammed into a Ford Taurus driven by Monica Nicola. Her 8-year-old daughter, Stephanie, was killed instantly. Fuqua, 40, who was a passenger in Nelson's Chrysler LeBaron, also died on impact. Monica Nicola and her daughter Danielle both suffered serious injuries.
During his trial, Nelson claimed that Fuqua was depressed the night of the crash. He went into a suicidal rage and tried to wrest control of the steering wheel from him, causing the accident, Nelson said.
