The man charged with causing a crash last year in Oceola Township that killed five people has been sentenced.

22-year-old Matthew Jordan Carrier of Fenton appeared Friday in Livingston County Circuit Court, where victim impact statements were read aloud by friends and family members that lost loved ones in the crash. Judge Michael P. Hatty then sentenced Carrier to 32 to 60 years in prison. He will not be eligible for parole until he is at least 55 years old.

In August, Carrier pleaded no contest to 19 counts, including five counts each of second-degree murder and operating while intoxicated causing death. The charges stemmed from a traffic crash at M-59 and Argentine Road on May 9th, 2017 that resulted in the deaths of five individuals and serious injury to two others. Investigators say Carrier ignored a stop sign as he traveled approximately 100 mph south on Argentine Road, smashing into a vehicle as it traveled eastbound on M-59.

Two people in Carrier's car died; 18-year-old Justin Henderson and 24-year-old Preston Wetzel. A third passenger, 23-year-old Kyle Lixie, was seriously injured. Three people in the other vehicle died, including 35-year-old Candice Dunn, a probation agent who had been honored at a Corrections Department banquet earlier that night. Dunn’s mother, 69-year-old Linda Hurley, and Hurley’s boyfriend, 73-year-old Jerome Tortomasi, were the other two individuals killed. Dunn’s boyfriend, Albert Boswell, was the lone survivor in that vehicle, though he was seriously injured.

Part of Carrier’s no contest plea related to his claims of a lack of memory from that night due to his intoxication. Authorities reported Carrier had a BAC of .15. Livingston County Prosecutor Bill Vailliencourt previously told WHMI his office did not offer any plea or sentencing agreement to Carrier in exchange for his plea. (DK)