FARMINGTON — A Temple man was sentenced Wednesday to serve 23 months of two, five-year sentences for hitting a 16-year-old skateboarder in May 2019 and hitting a vehicle head-on in Lisbon in October 2019.
Isaac Moody Franklin County Detention Center photo
Prior to sentencing, Isaac Moody, 32, formerly of Kingfield, who pleaded not guilty last year, pleaded guilty to driving to endanger and leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury or death for the Kingfield case and operating after revocation in the Lisbon case.
It was a negotiated plea agreement, Deputy District Attorney James Andrews said.
The sentence handed down by Justice Robert Mullen in Franklin County Superior Court was five years to the Department of Corrections, with all but 23 months suspended, and two years probation in the Kingfield case. The sentence in the Lisbon case was five years, all suspended, and two years of probation. It will be served after the first sentence is completed.
It means Moody will be on probation for four years after he is released from prison. The Maine Secretary of State will also issue a five-year loss of license order in the Lisbon accident, Andrews said.
On May 15 last year, Danny Brown Jr. of Kingfield, who is now 18, was skateboarding on the fog line heading west on Route 142. He told Franklin County deputies he saw a vehicle heading in his direction at about 8 p.m. in the opposite lane and “the vehicle suddenly crossed the centerline and came right toward him,” according to Deputy Andrew Morgan’s affidavit filed in a Farmington court. Brown was struck by the vehicle and received severe injuries from which he’s still recovering.
Moody left, went home and returned 10 minutes later. He admitted to deputies he was the driver and told them he thought he hit a dog.
Danny Brown Jr., who was 16 when he was hit by a car while skateboarding in Kingfield, lies in a hospital bed in Portland after the crash in May 2019. Brown Family photo
Moody would not allow blood to be drawn, but after a warrant was obtained a blood sample was taken several hours after the accident, Andrews said. The blood analysis showed traces of marijuana and fentanyl use in his system but the professional who tested the blood could not testify Moody was under the influence at the time of the crash, he said.
In Brown’s prewritten statement read by another person to the court, Brown described how he fought to survive and how he held onto his entire family.
“I held on to the moments that made me who I am,” according to Brown’s statement. “There are no words to say how thankful I am … I love life.”
Several other people spoke on Brown’s behalf.
“On May 15, 2019, our lives changed forever,” Brown’s mother, Angela Brown, said. She called her son when there was about 35 minutes left of daylight to see if he wanted a ride home. He didn’t answer. She had a twinge of worry because he always answered his phone.
The image of seeing her son lying facedown and the injuries he received pops into her head often, she said. “There was so much blood. His legs were twisted. His nose was split wide open, teeth were broken, he had a shattered left femur, a broken ankle, a break in his lower back, internal bleeding among other injuries,” she said.
“I had to be strong for him even though my heart was broken,” she said. He still suffers from the injuries and has to have another surgery. They have to put a bigger rod in his leg, she said.
He missed getting his license. He is now expected to repeat his junior year, she said. It is another year without track, basketball and running. There is just pain and more suffering, she said.
“We do not feel two years is enough,” she said.
“This is a difficult day for everyone here,” Andrews said. “There is no amount of punishment that would be sufficient. The state shares the outrage of the impact on the family and tight-knit community of Kingfield but the state has to follow the criminal justice laws that apply to the case.
“Compromise is a devil sometimes,” he said.
Defense attorney Walter Hanstein pointed out that Moody went back to the scene, he was crying and he admitted he was the driver. He was affected by what happened, he said.
“The system doesn’t restore us,” he said, pointing out that he meant no disrepect to the family in what he said. The most his client could get in this case was five years, he said.
Two years is a long time for someone who has never done a night in jail, he said. Moody was a model inmate while in custody. He worked in the kitchen.
“He is a changed person,” Hanstein said.
Moody, whose voice broke when he spoke, said he regretted what happen and truly apologizes to the family.
In the Lisbon crash, police said the driver of a Subaru traveling east on Route 196 appeared to have crossed the centerline and collided with an oncoming vehicle.
At the time, Chief Marc Hagan of the Lisbon Police Department issued a statement saying the one charge pending against Moody, the driver, was operating a motor vehicle under license suspension.
Moody and his two passengers, including a toddler and the occupants, and the two occupants of the other vehicle, George Gamrat, 74, and Linda Gamrat, 71, both of Lisbon, were all taken to the hospital. Moody had lower body injuries and passenger, Anisha Gagnon, 29, of Temple had upper body injuries. The toddler was examined and released. George Gamrat was released after treatment for minor injuries; his wife remained at the hospital with upper body injuries, according to the statement.
The Gamrats’ written statements were submitted to the judge but not read in court.
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