Pennsylvania: Lancaster Judge Madenspacher sentenced repeat DUI driver Mitchell Runk to 17 years for killing Annastasia Leberfinger

Mitchell Runk DUI conviction in Lancaster County PA fatal 091015

Mitchell Runk DUI conviction in Lancaster County PA fatal 091015

A Lancaster County judge jailed a repeat drunk driver up to 17 years for causing a high-speed crash two years ago that killed a woman.

Judge Joseph Madenspacher ordered maximum sentences Wednesday on three charges in the case against Mitchell G. Runk, who pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while DUI and other offenses.

In all, Runk, 28, will serve 8 ¾ to 17 years in state prison.

Runk’s blood-alcohol level was .219 percent at the time of the 2013 crash in West Donegal Township that killed 20-year-old Annastasia Leberfinger.

He was driving, on a suspended license from a past DUI, over 100 mph when his Hyundai coupe missed a turn on Route 230 near Cedar Road. Investigators determined the car was traveling between 104 and 116 mph when the car struck an embankment.

Both occupants were ejected from the car. Leberfinger was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

Lancaster County Assistant District Attorney Todd E. Brown told the judge Runk was on a path to have something this tragic happen. He had two DUI charges in 2009 and other drug offenses on his record, Brown said.

Judge Madenspacher pointed to the car’s speed, Runk’s criminal past, and his extremely high blood-alcohol level – more than twice Pennsylvania’s legal limit for drivers – as reasons for the sentence.

Runk faced a mandatory minimum, 3-year jail term on the vehicular homicide while DUI charge.

Runk also was ordered to pay $1,975 in restitution costs related to Leberfinger’s funeral.