Swartzentruber sentenced

By Nate Smith, Staff Writer

August 13, 2008 10:56 pm

— In the end, forgiveness was not enough for Cameron Swartzentruber.
Swartzentruber, 25, Odon, was sentenced in Daviess Superior Court Wednesday to 10 years for the drunk driving accident that left mother of seven, Edna Knepp, 41, dead and seriously injured five of her children.
The sentence, handed down by Superior Court Judge Dean Sobecki, calls for five of those years to be served in the state Department of Corrections and the other five years to be suspended. Swartzentruber was also sentenced to six and a half years of probation following his sentence and two years of a suspended license.
Although Edna’s husband, Enos, and members of the family forgave Swartzentruber and asked for probation, Sobecki said just probation would not fit the crime.
“I believe that sentence would seriously undervalue the life that was taken,” Sobecki said.
Swartzentruber was returning home from a graduation party on May 13, 2006, when he hit the rear end of a buggy the Knepps were driving on CR 900E, the Odon-Cannelburg Road. Edna Knepp was killed instantly while five children: Jo-Anna, 15, Judith, 14, Janelle, 5 months, Joshua, 6, and Joseph, 12, all sustained critical injuries and were taken via helicopter to Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville. Enos Knepp sustained multiple face and head lacerations in the crash.
Swartzentruber refused a chemical test and was taken into custody, where he registered a .24 blood-alcohol content, three times the legal limit.
Swartzentruber was charged with 14 felony counts relating to the accident. He pled guilty in January to causing death while operating a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class B felony. and six counts of operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of .08 or higher, Class D felonies.
Swartzentruber family members, friends and the Knepp family came to Swartzentruber’s sentencing hearing Wednesday. The courtroom was so full that audience members were asked to sit in the jury box. After the hearing was finished, no one left as family members and friends cried when Swartzentruber was taken by deputies to the Daviess County Security Center.
During the hearing, Swartzentruber’s parents, pastor, fiancee, boss and Enos Knepp came to the stand. Floyd Wagler, Swartzentruber’s boss, said he would have a job waiting for him when he returns.
“I think he has took his punishment,” Wagler said. “He has learned his lessons.”
Terry Swartzentruber, Cameron’s father, said his son has not had a drink since being released on bail 20 days after the crash. He testified that in the hospital after the crash, Cameron kept asking about the Knepp family and how they were.
Terry Swartzentruber also said he was approached by an state police trooper to ask Cameron to speak to young people about the dangers of alcohol.
“Cameron has made a tremendous change since the time of the accident,” Terry said. “If he could help anyone in the community, he would do that. He wants to do it.”
During examination by Cameron’s attorney, J. Dirk Carnahan of Vincennes, Terry said he suspected Cameron was drinking while he was living at home prior to the accident.
During cross-examination by Assistant District Attorney David Lett, Terry said although Cameron was not drinking now and completed treatment at Samaritan Center, he did not receive any grief counseling or continued counseling.
Ashley Wagler, Swartzentruber’s fiancee, said Swartzentruber admitted to her that he hit the Knepps. They plan to marry after Swartzentruber is finished with his sentence and said he has changed since the accident.
“I saw the family he had hit and I saw him and he was crying and he said he hit them,” Wagler said crying. “That’s all he said over and over and he waited with them until an ambulance came.”
Darla Swartzentruber, Cameron’s mother, testified that when she came on the scene of the accident, Cameron said: “Mommy, I am so sorry, but I got the babies all out and I was holding them until the ambulance got there.
“In his impaired state, he was trying to do the right thing, even though he made an awful choice,” Darla said.
While on the stand, Cameron Swartzentruber said he did remember pulling a boy, Joshua, from underneath his truck after the accident. Joshua sustained two broken legs. Swartzentruber did not remember what he said to his mother.
Also shared by several witnesses Wednesday was the practice in Daviess County known as “Amish Parties,” where as many 100 youths drink, use drugs and then drive home. Swartzentruber said he has visited those parties since he was 16 and would drink every weekend. He also said he experimented with marijuana and methamphetamine.
During Darla’s testimony, Swartzentruber, a Mennonite, expressed an interest in talking to Amish and Mennonite schools about alcohol.
“Mom, that’s the way they’ve always done it,” Cameron said to Darla. “They don’t know anything else with that problem.”
Before Cameron Swartzentruber came on the stand, Enos Knepp testified. A member of the Old Order Amish, he cried as he walked to the stand and said all he remembered about the crash is waking up 50 feet from his buggy.
He said he forgave Swartzentruber for the death of his wife and the injuries to his children. Members of his family were in the courtroom with Knepp. Swartzentruber and the Knepp family have talked on numerous occasions.
“Things like this happen for a reason,” Knepp said. “If something like this could help a person make a right decision, (the death) would be easier to accept.
“If I was guessing, Cameron’s punished every day for this. I don’t know if jail can help him if there isn’t a rehab program.”
During cross-examination, Knepp asked for no restitution from Swartzentruber. Sobecki, as part of procedure, asked Knepp if he had a statement for the court as the victim of the crime. Knepp declined.
Swartzentruber then came on the stand. He said his drinking problem started by attending the Amish Parties and he figured he had a problem by the time he was 21. He also said he knew getting in his Toyota Tundra that night while drunk was wrong, but figured the most he would have to worry about was getting pulled over.
During the investigation, the computer from the Tundra was pulled out and the data analyzed. It said the truck was not driving erratically and was going along CR 900E at 45 miles per hour.
“The first thing I remember was the air bag smacking me in the face,” Swartzentruber said when asked the first thing he remembers about the accident.
He later said he does not remember anything else after pulling Joshua from underneath the truck. He tried to call 911, but could not get through, Swartzentruber said.
Swartzentruber said the accident “was the hardest thing in my life.”
“I wish it was me,” Swartzentruber said. “I wish it was the other way.”
During his statement period, Swartzentruber said he was sorry to the court and the community.
Carnahan argued that the probation office’s recommended sentence of 10 years was unfair and went through a list of mitigating circumstances to explain his position of probation only. He also said Swartzentruber was caught in the problem of the Amish Parties.
“I think if Cameron Swartzentruber would ever take a drink the rest of his life, I would be surprised,” Carnahan said. “As would the rest of the people who testified today.”
Lett argued during summation that the court is in “the message business” and has to send a message to citizens about drunk driving. He asked for incarceration.
“Yes, Mr. Swartzentruber got the message,” Lett said. “Is everyone in this courtroom going to get the message? Is everyone that reads the Times-Herald going to get that message? Is everyone at these Amish Parties going to get that message?”
After the sentence was handed down, Carnahan said an appeal could be made for a lesser sentence.
“I think the circumstances could have supported something different,” Carnahan said.
Knepp, who stayed and shook hands with most of Swartzentruber’s friends and family, did not have much to say after the hearing.
“(The sentence) was not really what we were expecting,” Knepp said.