Officer Down: Lt. Corey Dahlem
By The Associated Press
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison in the death of a police officer who was hit by a vehicle during the Florida Gators’ second national basketball championship celebration.
Austin J. Wright, 22, could have received the maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for the April death of Gainesville Police Lt. Corey Dahlem, 45.
Dahlem’s family asked Circuit Judge Peter K. Sieg for a sentence of 28 years. That way Wright would be released when he was the same age as Dahlem.
Wright’s attorney, Larry Turner, asked Sieg to consider a sentence of less than the minimum of nine years and three months because his client is remorseful.
Wright pleaded guilty in October to aggravated manslaughter of a law enforcement officer.
A blood test showed Wright had a blood-alcohol level of 0.271, more than three times the legal limit, when he drove a pickup along a closed road and hit Dahlem, authorities said.
Dahlem died of severe injuries to his brain and upper torso.
''It was stupid,’' Wright said at Wednesday’s hearing, pausing every few words to sniffle through his tears. ''It was selfish. I never should have done it. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about the Dahlems.’'