Drunk driver charged for fatal collision given 18 months in jail

The motorist accused of drunkenly striking and killing a 21-year-old man near Columbia Falls in March has been sentenced to 18 months in the Flathead County Detention Center.

Robert Dewbre, 21, died after being struck by driver John Lee Wilson at the intersection of U.S. 2 and Montana 40 in the early morning hours of March 11. Wilson pleaded no contest to multiple charges stemming from the fatal collision in Flathead County Justice Court earlier this year

“This situation represents an unmitigated tragedy for all involved and a textbook example of some of the worst things that can happen,” Judge Paul Sullivan said before handing down the sentences on Oct. 31. “I am concerned, however, by the suggestion that this was an unavoidable accident. The problem we face is that we can never know what would've happened had you, [Mr. Wilson], not been heavily intoxicated while driving that night.”

For operating a vehicle without liability insurance in effect, Sullivan waived a $500 fine, the maximum penalty for the misdemeanor charge. For careless driving involving death or serious bodily injury, Sullivan gave Wilson six months in county jail. He gave Wilson another year in county jail for aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. 

Sullivan ordered the sentences to run consecutively.

Beth Dewbre, Bobby Dewbre’s mother, said the family welcomed the sentence. Drunk drivers often avoid getting the maximum penalty, she said. 

“For Judge Sullivan to have taken this seriously and broken precedent and sentenced Mr. Wilson to the maximum means a lot,” Dewbre said. 

But the Dewbre family still wants to see the culture around drinking and driving shift.

With the sentencing behind her, Dewbre said she planned to focus on changing laws and hopefully saving lives down the line. She said she has already met with legislators and national organizations to bring Montana’s lax drunk driving laws to light. 

The national group Mothers Against Drunk Driving lists Montana as the lowest-ranking state in terms of its efforts to curb driving under the influence, giving it a .5 in its 2019 campaign report. That document calls on the state to legalize sobriety checkpoints among other measures to deter and penalize drunk driving.

“This is the culture that Montana has always had,” Dewbre said. “But everything doesn’t have to be drinking related.”

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.