Hayfield Man Changes Plea to "Guilty"

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- Guilty; that's the new plea entered by a 23-year-old Hayfield man accused of driving drunk and getting into an accident that killed one person.

But that's not all that happened in court Wednesday morning.

David Stanton's defense lawyer filed for a downward departure in sentencing, but the prosecution says they'll fight it every step of the way.

Stanton changed his plea today, pleading guilty to one felony count of criminal vehicular homicide.

In exchange, the other felony charge against him was dropped.

If both of those charges stayed in play here, Stanton could have faced 20 years in prison, a $40,000 dollar fine, or both.

Now that there's only one, it's half that, but Stanton's attorney argues it should be even less, saying he should be sentenced to treatment, probation, local jail time and community service, and reach out to people about the dangers of drunk driving.

Stanton's sentencing has been scheduled for the morning of April 6th, where the victim's family is expected to speak out about how the accident has changed their lives.

Of course, we will be at that hearing and will bring you the latest information.

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