LOCKPORT – A Yankton, S.D., man who allegedly crashed a vehicle on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation Sept. 8, killing his passenger and seriously injuring the other driver, was given two weeks to mull offer a plea offer he received Thursday.
But Skyler T. Zephier, 21, will have to do so with a new attorney, as his lawyer, Charles F. Pitarresi, left the case Thursday, citing a conflict of interest from a past legal association with a witness.
Deputy District Attorney Theodore A. Brenner offered Zephier a recommendation for a sentencing limit of three to nine years in prison if he’ll plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter, vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated.
“The family of the deceased victim, Brett McKee, has agreed to the proposed disposition, as has Jason Cramer, the person who suffered the serious physical injury,” Brenner told Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas.
But Skyler T. Zephier, 21, will have to do so with a new attorney, as his lawyer, Charles F. Pitarresi, left the case Thursday, citing a conflict of interest from a past legal association with a witness.
Deputy District Attorney Theodore A. Brenner offered Zephier a recommendation for a sentencing limit of three to nine years in prison if he’ll plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter, vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated.
“The family of the deceased victim, Brett McKee, has agreed to the proposed disposition, as has Jason Cramer, the person who suffered the serious physical injury,” Brenner told Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas.