A Pennsylvania man is sentenced in connection with a fatal crash on I-68 last year. According to the Garrett County State’s Attorney’s Office 18 year old John Delligatti of Wexford, PA was sentenced on charges of criminally negligent manslaughter by vehicle and failing to control speed to avoid a collision. For the manslaughter charge, Judge Stephan Moylan imposed a sentence of two years in the Division of Correction and suspended all of the sentence. For the speeding charge, a fine of $130 was assessed. Delligatti was placed on three years of probation with a special condition to complete 300 hours of community service and not drive for the next four months. Judge Moylan also granted to Delligatti probation before judgment for the criminal charge.Delligatti was charged by the State’s Attorney in June after the completion of an accident investigation and reconstruction of the multi-vehicle collision that occurred on I-68 last December. Delligatti failed to see and take action to avoid a 2007 Toyota van that had been stopped in a line of traffic when the road was closed for a medical helicopter to land for an earlier accident along the interstate. The vehicle struck by Delligatti was operated by Matthew Ray Ashby, 29, Oakland, in which his in-laws, wife and child were passengers. 26-year old Kalie Michelle Ashby was transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead from her injuries. The Ashby van was pushed into a 2003 BMW, driven by Christian Kanyiki Kalonji, 49, Oak Park, Illinois. The Toyota struck the guardrail and continued past the BMW where it struck a 2014 Ford Focus being driven by Ben Wayne Weimer, 39, Barton, with Stacey Lynn Weimer, 43, Barton, as a passenger. Weimer’s vehicle then struck the rear of a tractor-trailer operated by Jeffrey Lynn Kreidler, 60, Tampa, Florida. None of the occupants of these vehicles were transported for treatment. A passenger in the Delligatti vehicle, Grace Lynn Curry, 76, Greenville, SC, was also transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital for treatment of injuries. The collision occurred along I-68, just east of the West Virginia line, in an area with more than one mile of sight. An accident reconstructionist obtained data from various vehicles involved in the collision and determined Delligatti had taken no evasive action and was traveling 70 MPH without braking prior to impact.Judge Moylan had found Delligatti guilty of the two charges following a trial in November.
