BANGOR, Maine — The driver in a June 18 accident on Annis Road that claimed the life of a 20-year-old Hermon man allegedly had a blood alcohol content nearly three times Maine’s legal limit of 0.08 for operating a vehicle at the time of the crash, according to the Penobscot County district attorney’s office.
Keith Austin, 23, made his initial court appearance on Monday at the Penobscot Judicial Center, Assistant District Attorney Marianne Lynch said. He is charged with manslaughter and aggravated operating under the influence, she said.
If convicted, Austin faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000 on a manslaughter charge and up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000 on an aggravated OUI charge.
According to Lynch, a blood sample taken after the single-vehicle crash indicated that Austin’s blood alcohol level was .21. Maine’s legal limit is .08.
Austin was not asked to enter a plea on Monday because he has not yet been indicted by a grand jury, Lynch said. A dispositional hearing is scheduled for Sept. 14, she said.
Austin was arrested Friday after he turned himself in to police. He was released on bail of $20,000 cash or $50,000 surety late Monday afternoon, a Penobscot County Jail official said.
His bail conditions include no contact with two witnesses in his case, that he not consume alcohol or illegal drugs, that he submit to searches and testing and that he abide by an 8 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew, Lynch said.
Nick Frenette, 20, died from injuries he suffered in the accident, which happened shortly after 9 p.m., Chief Deputy William Sheehan of Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office said the evening after the crash.
Austin and Sarah Hawkins, 20, of Hermon also were injured.
Lynch said Monday that Frenette’s mother, Rebecca Lane, attended Monday’s court proceedings. Though she did not want to address the media, she did want it made known that her son was an organ donor.
Austin is being represented by Bangor attorney Jeff Silverstein.