A Lapwai man has pleaded guilty to killing a Lewiston teenager while operating a boat under the influence of alcohol.
34-year-old Gordon Higheagle was sentenced Wednesday in Asotin County Superior Court to about 3 and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of homicide by watercraft and four counts of reckless endangerment.
Higheagle drove the boat that hit another boat on the Snake River August 14th, killing 15-year-old Jonas Yochum. A toxicology report revealed that Higheagle’s blood alcohol level shortly after the accident was 0.14, double the legal limit.
The 41-month sentence was the maximum sentence Whitman County Superior Court Judge David Frazier could hand down under Washington law.
