Hale sentenced to a minimum of six years

Pine Plains — The tragic car accident story of Aug. 29, 2013, has seemingly come to an end with the prison sentencing of driver Dustin Hale of Pine Plains on Thursday, Oct. 9.The one-car accident on Schultz Hill Road in Pine Plains killed passengers Zachary Pruner, 16, and Gian Paolo Stagnaro, 17. Hale, then 16, and passenger Niall Johnson, then 16, survived with life-threatening and non-life-threatening injuries, respectively.Now 17, Hale was tried as an adult and sentenced by Judge Stephen Greller at Dutchess County Court in Poughkeepsie for six to 18 years in state prison for aggravated vehicular homicide.Hale was also sentenced for four to 12 years on each of two counts of second-degree manslaughter.All sentence terms run concurrently, rather than cumulatively, thus Hale may be eligible for parole after six years, the minimum on the homicide count.“I felt that the judge was very fair, that he took into account a lot of different issues,” said Stagnaro’s mother, Valerie Hammarth, “most of all the fact that the crash was not the first time that Dustin drove recklessly or sped or, according to all of his friends, engaged in impaired driving.”Hammarth referred to a text message released during trial that revealed a criticism from one of Hale’s friends.The unnamed friend reportedly criticized Hale for driving impaired in the past and urged him not to do it again.“Greller went through his reasoning,” Hammarth said. “It was a violent crime — it appears that he was impaired.”Johnson testified to smoking marijuana with the group of boys on the day of the accident.“In my victim impact statement, I asked Judge Greller to take advantage of this opportunity to make a really strong statement to the community that impaired and reckless driving wont be tolerated in New York state,” Hammarth said. “And I think he did.“Nobody is a winner — none of us is a winner in this situation,” she added. “I don’t think that I derive any enjoyment of his sentence, I honestly think it’s necessary. I don’t think that he’s safe to be on the road.”Hammarth said that over the weekend after the sentencing, she and Pruner’s mother, Sue Treacy, traveled to Gettysburg, Pa., to spread the ashes of their children.Stagnaro was a member of the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry Civil War re-enactment group and loved visiting Gettysburg, Hammarth said.Treacy and Pine Plains Central School District Superintendent Martin Handler will hold a second annual CPR training day and blood drive in Pruner’s memory at Stissing Mountain High School on Wednesday, Oct. 22.