GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – A Green Bay man was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday for a fatal drunk driving crash.
31-year-old Shay Smyser was also placed on probation for three years for the April 23, 2017, incident in which his blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit when he slid off Interstate 41 in Lawrence and struck a man walking by his vehicle.
Judge Thomas Walsh was asked by prosecutors to deliver an eight-year prison term, while Smyser’s attorney asked for probation.
25 years in the prison system, would have been the maximum term.
Smyser had been drinking and lost control of his vehicle just south of the Scheuring Road exit, according to police.
62-year-old Gary Schuller of Colorado, the victim, was pulled over on the right-hand shoulder of the road.
According to the criminal complaint, Smyser’s blood alcohol level was .261, which is more than three times the legal limit of .08.
Three other counts were dismissed, while Smyser had previously pleaded guilty to one count of homicide by use of a vehicle while having a prohibited alcohol concentration.
