Drunken driver gets 10 years for fatal crash

Just before he was sent to prison for 10 years Tuesday, a Columbia Falls man apologized for driving drunk and killing a Nebraska cardiologist on June 6, 2015.

Matthew Michael Hollo, 24, was sentenced to 30 years in Montana State Prison with 20 years suspended by Flathead District Court Judge Robert Allison for one felony count of vehicular homicide committed under the influence of alcohol. He was also fined $5,000.

“It breaks my heart and I am forever sorry for your family’s loss,” Hollo said to the son and brother-in-law of his victim.

Hollo was speeding and driving with a blood alcohol concentration nearly twice the legal limit when he crashed just north of the North Fork Road viaduct into a vehicle driven by Dr. Timothy Fangman, 68, of Omaha, Nebraska. Fangman was a well-known cardiologist.

“Every day since then I have had countless concerning thoughts on a daily basis about how the Fangman family must be dealing with their sadness,” Hollo said.

A former high school teacher, counselor, and acquaintance all described Hollo as a good kid. He was seen as someone who was considerate and went out of his way to be kind.

“I really think he’s worth saving,” retired Columbia Falls barber Randy Bocksnick told the judge. “He’s a wonderful person. He’s got a good soul.”

However, at the end of his senior year of high school, Hollo’s grades dropped from A’s to C’s and D’s, according to his father, Hal. He moved out of his parents’ home after finishing high school and his father did not know that alcohol was an issue in his son’s life.

“I really didn’t know how early he had been drinking,” Hal Hollo testified.

If drinking was an issue, it did not seem to impact his work. Managers at F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co. testified that he was one of the few workers who went above and beyond what was required of him. He spent the past three years working at the company.

In 2013, Hollo received a misdemeanor conviction for driving under the influence. Addiction counselor Chad Kingery said it is not unusual for people to fail to address drinking issues after receiving a DUI. Sometimes it takes something much more terrible to happen before people realize the severity of their addiction, Kingery said.

“As tragic as that sounds, it’s the nature of the beast,” Kingery said.

Hollo has been undergoing counseling since September, Kingery said. He said he was concerned that if Hollo was sent to prison, he might be placed in an environment where his enthusiasm to get better might be negatively received and impacted by other prisoners who typically are not as eager to live sober lives.

The impact of prison on Hollo was also a concern of Tracy DeReu, whose daughter is engaged to Hollo. DeReu said her brother was killed by a drunken driver in 1993. The driver was named Butch and went to prison, she said.

“It did not help my family that he went to prison,” DeReu said. “Butch went to prison and when he got out he was actually worse than when he went in. He’s a nonfunctional person now.”

DeReu said her family was torn apart by the incident involving her brother.

“It was a lose-lose and I’m hoping that in this situation there won’t be a lose-lose,” DeReu said.

Judge Allison said that he hoped Hollo could turn his life around and had made several steps in the right direction. He encouraged Hollo to follow through with a plan to speak in schools about the consequences of his choices, which is something that Hollo indicated he would be willing to do in the future. However, the tragic story could not have an impact without having some significant consequence, Allison said.

Allison said he had to think of how he might respond if his son were the drunken driver or the one killed in the accident.

If his son were the victim, Allison said, “I might have moments where I might be a homicidal maniac.”

The victim’s brother-in-law John Reins and son Ben Fangman did not have any anger in their voices at the hearing, though there was much sadness.

“Dr. Tim was a truly decent, good man who will be missed by many,” Reins said. “We came here not filled with hate or a desire for revenge, but we do want to convey the sad consequences for the defendant’s choices and actions.”

Reins said that he hoped Hollo understood that he can never take another drink in his lifetime.

Ben Fangman testified that his father would want forgiveness, but that there is also a place for justice.

Allison explained at the sentencing that he tried to weigh the gravity of the harm caused against the hope for rehabilitation. He also noted that the prior DUI was not to Hollo’s advantage.

“The harm caused here does not get any worse,” Allison said. “You’ll still be a young man when you return and you will still have an opportunity to give back to the community ... This is not an end. It is a beginning.”

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.