An Etna man pleaded no contest Tuesday at the Penobscot Judicial Center to manslaughter and aggravated operating under the influence of intoxicants in connection with a crash last year that killed a 73-year-old grandmother.
No contest pleas result in convictions.
Richard Lupo II, 32, is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 9.
At the time of the crash, a blood test performed at Eastern Maine Medical Center showed that cocaine, methadone, other opiates and the tranquilizer benzodiazepine were in Lupo’s blood, according to a court affidavit.
In his plea agreement with the Penobscot County district attorney’s office, one count of driving to endanger was dismissed.
Assistant District Attorney Devon DeMarco said she will recommend a sentence of 15 years in prison with all but four suspended to be followed by four years of probation. Defense attorney Jeffrey Silverstein will be allowed to argue for a lesser sentence.
Superior Court Justice Ann Murray accepted the no contest pleas Tuesday and found Lupo guilty of the charges. She did not indicate whether she would accept the plea agreement or not. If the judge were to reject the deal, Lupo could withdraw his pleas and got to trial.
“This case is an example of how the opioid epidemic is affecting more people than just the drug users and their families,” DeMarco told reporters after the hearing. “The impact of this epidemic is rippling out into the community.”
Debra Calderwood of Etna died instantly at about 3:13 p.m. on Aug. 4, 2017, when the car Lupo was driving struck her vehicle head-on along Route 2 in Etna, DeMarco told the judge Tuesday. Lupo was driving west in the eastbound lane at more than 30 mph over the speed limit.
Lupo’s 2009 Dodge Caliber was traveling at 81 mph 5 seconds before hitting Calderwood’s 2009 Honda Fit, data from his airbag showed. The speed limit on that section of Route 2 is 50 mph.
Empty methadone bottles and drug paraphernalia were found in Lupo’s car, DeMarco said.
Lupo was arrested in January. He was released in April on $20,000 cash bail, after a motion to lower bail from $50,000 cash.
The most serious charge of manslaughter, carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $50,000.
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