Driver sentenced to two years in prison for DUI death

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Derek Dygulski pleads guilty in accident that killed Carol Ragsdale

Derek Dygulski (Photo provided)

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Nov 12, 2008 at 12:35 PM EDT

Story Updated: Nov 12, 2008 at 12:49 PM EDT

SOUTH BEND — A 34-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison for the death of Carol Ragsdale and injuries to her husband, Kenneth Ragsdale, while driving drunk Aug. 16.

Derek A. Dygulski had pleaded guilty to two felony charges stemming from the collision on Lincoln Way East in Mishawaka. He had been traveling west in an eastbound lane when he collided head-on with the Ragsdale vehicle. Police said tests indicated Dygulski had a blood-alcohol content of almost twice the legal limit at the time of the accident.

A judge also imposed a 3½-year suspended sentence and five years of probation upon his release from prison.

At the hearing Wednesday morning, Kenneth Ragsdale, 60, was in a wheelchair because of injuries he sustained in the accident. His daughter, Jennifer Mammolenti, said he would be able to walk again.

Mammolenti said she was "very disappointed" with the judge’s sentencing decision.

Judge Roland W. Chamblee Jr. said he was bound by the law to follow certain guidelines, and that while he could take the "easy way out" and impose the maximum sentence, it would surely come back to him on appeal.

Watch WSBT News at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m for more on this story, and read Thursday's South Bend Tribune.

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