In the past week, Sam E. Holstein, a 19-year-old of Mount Carnell was sentenced to four years in prison. The young Mount Carnell Teen admitted to being high on marijuana the night of the crash which involved another vehicle in a head-on collision, killing the passenger in his vehicle.
After negotiating the guilty plea on Tuesday afternoon, he accepted the class 2 felony charge of aggravated driving under the influence of drugs (Marijuana).
In addition to the prison time, Circuit Judge David Frandland ordered Holstein to pay $6.099 in fines and a $1,450 restitution to four emergency agencies that attended to the scence of the crash and extricated the victims. Under Illinois law, drunken drivers who cause an accident that results in serious bodily harm or a death can be assessed the cost of the emergency services provided at the crash scene.
Holstein’s cases goes back to the 2007 crash that took the life of 22-year-old Zachary L. Reyburn of Mount Carmel. The accident occurred on Illinois 130, about a half-mile north of the Bone Gap Road. According to State Police, Reyburn was a passenger in Holstein’s 2000 Volvo when it crossed the center line and stuck a 2005 Jeep driven by 47-year-old Cindy Green of Ellery, Illinois. Both Green and Holstein were injured badly in the crash, and Reyburn was pronounced dead at the scene.
Since the crash in 2007, Holstein has been arreseted twice for drinking and driving in both Wabash and White Counties. Both of those cases are still pending at this time.
Recently, Mount Carmel police arrested Holstein for unlawful consumption of alcohol by a minor and resisting arrest on the 1200 block of Cedar Street. He is accused of trying to slam a car door on a police officer’s leg during his arrest. Holstein was then jailed and transferred to Edwards County Circuit Court on Tuesday where he entered the guilty plea and was sentenced.
