A Simsbury teen will serve a minimum of eight months in prison after he was sentenced Thursday in the fatal 2011 crash that killed 17-year-old Tommy Tanski.
Austin Buckmann, 19, was sentenced to a minimum of eight months in prison after he pleaded no contest at Superior Court on Thursday to second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, according to the Hartford Courant.
Buckmann was driving a 1999 Nissan Sentra with 3 passengers when the car struck a telephone pole on Old Meadow Plain Road at about 1 a.m. on Sunday, June 26, 2011.
Buckmann, 19, Zachary Fons, 19 and Tory Munson, 18, suffered minor injuries in the accident but survived. Tanski did not.
More than 250 attended a funeral service for Tanski and a fundraiser was held to help his family pay for his gravestone.
Following an investigation, police charged Buckmann on Dec. 8, 2011 with traveling unreasonably fast, reckless driving, operating under the influence under the age of 21, failure to drive in the proper lane, second-degree manslaughter, and second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle.
The teen turned himself in and was released on a $25,000 non-surety bond.
According to court records, Buckmann pleaded not guilty Thursday to all but one of the charges. The 19-year-old pleaded no contest to second degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, according to court records.
Buckmann's full sentence was 3 1/2 years to be suspended after 8 months followed by 4 years of probation, according to the Hartford Courant.
