A Granite City man with five prior DUIs accepted the maximum sentence Tuesday for driving drunk in a 91-mph crash that killed a young couple and their unborn child.
Donald W. Canterbery, 57, received a 28-year prison sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to aggravated drunken driving and related charges. He pleaded guilty to driving drunk in a February wreck in Pontoon Beach that killed Adam Zimmer, 26, and his wife, Lindsey Arnold-Zimmer, 24, both of Granite City. Arnold-Zimmer was five months pregnant.
The couple's relatives filled the prosecution side of the courtroom Tuesday for a change-of-plea hearing. They issued a prepared statement afterward, saying they're pleased with the sentence.
It read in part: "Today, Donald Canterbery is receiving what amounts to a life sentence for his conduct on that fateful day last February, as we think he should."
Canterbery's blood-alcohol rate was 0.246 percent, which is more than three times the threshold for a drunken-driving charge in Illinois.
According to an accident reconstruction report, police calculated Canterbery's 2006 Corvette was traveling 151 mph four seconds before the crash and 91 mph when it hit the rear of Arnold-Zimmer's Hyundai. The wreck happened on Illinois 111 just north of Interstate 55.
At the scene, Canterbery admitted to police that he had been drinking, and he asked: "How many people did I kill?"
Canterbery had five prior arrests for driving under the influence. When given a chance to make a statement in court, he declined. Since the crash, he's been held in the Madison County Jail on $1 million bail. He will have to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence, State's Attorney Bill Mudge said.
"Twenty-eight years in the maximum sentence in this case. I am grateful that this came to a speedy conclusion, saving the families further heartache and grief that comes with a trial," Mudge said.
In January, Canterbery received probation in Madison County for his fifth drunken-driving conviction. He had four prior arrests for DUI: in 1997 in Indiana, in 1995 in Utah, in 1990 in Texas and in 1988 in Colorado.
Mudge has said his prosecutors wouldn't have given Canterbery probation in January if they had been aware of his full driving record.
"This crash was horrific on many fronts, and given the defendant's history, it should have never happened. Once again, I ask our lawmakers to consider a nationwide driving record that would make it easier to identify DUI offenders who offend in multiple states," Mudge said.
The Zimmers' family members said in their statement: "It should not have been this difficult. We are committed to pursuing the idea of a national database for drunk-driving arrests, so that serial offenders like Canterbery are no longer able to slip through the cracks by changing addresses. Had such a system existed last year, Adam, Lindsey and Riley might still be here with us."
Canterbery lived on Social Security and had trouble paying his bills, but he'd been shopping for a Corvette. In December, he won a settlement in a medical malpractice lawsuit stemming from an operation on his leg. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but in one deposition for the lawsuit, a friend said Canterbery talked about buying a Corvette with $6 million he expected to get from the settlement.
Canterbery wrecked the sports car the day after he drove it off the lot of a Granite City dealership.
A Secretary of State application that the dealership filled out for Canterbery's temporary plate listed an invalid driver's license number for Canterbery. For Canterbery's address, the application stated he resided at the same address as the car dealership.
After learning of the irregularities on the application, the Secretary of State's office suspended the dealership's authority to issue temporary license plates.
Kristi Hosea, a victim-services specialist with Illinois Mothers Against Drunk Driving, attended the hearing Tuesday.
"MADD's very pleased to see the maximum sentence come out of Madison County and we hope it sends the message that drunk driving will not be tolerated," Hosea said.
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