A Durango man was sentenced to prison on Friday for a crash that seriously injured two people.
Michael Snook, 48, pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular assault for causing a head-on crash while driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana May 14 on U.S. Highway 550, south of Durango. He was sentenced by 6th Judicial District Judge William Herringer to four years in prison.
“I can’t look at this case and say anything less than a prison sentence is defensible,” Herringer said.
“This was not somebody who had an extra glass of wine at a Christmas party and got pulled over. Mr. Snook was essentially a loaded weapon that night,” he said.
Kenny Wendland spoke on behalf of his daughter, Shasta Alleman, who he said was not emotionally prepared to speak about her injuries and the trauma the wreck caused.
“I don’t want revenge, but it’s only fair that there’s some consequences for your actions,” Wendland told Herringer.
In graphic detail, Wendland described the many injuries that have upended his daughter’s life after the crash.
He spoke of brain damage, severe scarring from her legs up to her neck, lung stents and more than $2 million in medical bills.
Wendland said Alleman hasn’t returned to church or been able to visit Walmart because she’s unable to go to the bathroom alone.
“Those are the physical damages,” Wendland said. “How she feels about herself and how she looks is going to be for the rest of her life.”
Deputy District Attorney Appellate Sean Murray asked the court to consider the seriousness of Alleman’s injuries when sentencing Snook.
“What the people are asking for is that the court not give Mr. Snook a slap on the wrist, which would equate to a slap in the face to the community and to these victims,” Murray said.
He said the psychological trauma Alleman has faced in the wake of the crash has been as severe as her injuries.
“(Ms. Alleman) wishes she had perished in the crash because her life as she knew it is over,” Murray said. “Every day she is suffering. Every moment she is suffering.”
A somber Herringer acknowledged that he had difficulty reading a victim-impact statement because of graphic details of Alleman’s injuries.
Snook struck and injured Alleman, who was 30 at the time, and Alva Radcliff, who was 32, while driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana on May 14.
Snook was returning to Durango from Tico Time River Resort in Aztec when he found himself on the wrong side of the road and plowed his Ford F-150 pickup into a Nissan Altima occupied by Alleman and Radcliff.
Snook refused testing at the scene of the crash, but Murray said Snook’s blood-alcohol level two hours later was 0.174, more than twice the legal driving limit in Colorado.
State troopers found open alcohol containers and three open marijuana containers in Snook’s truck.
Radcliff was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center with broken ribs and a broken finger.
Alleman was also taken to Mercy, but was then flown to a hospital in Colorado Springs because of the life-threatening injuries she suffered.
Alleman spent 75 days in the hospital.
When Snook rose to speak, he said he was devastated by his actions and the harm he caused.
“My main concern remains and has always been the recovery of the victims,” Snook said.
Both Herringer and Snook’s defense attorney, Richard Jaye, said they had rarely seen someone so remorseful for his or her actions.
“Mr. Snook is a good human being,” Jaye said.
“I have seen him cry. I have seen him weep,” Jaye said. “He will never, never forget that night and never forget what he did.”
After Herringer imposed his sentence, Snook handed his phone and his wallet to Jaye as he was led away by a La Plata County sheriff’s deputy.
Wendland said after the hearing Snook’s sentence brought neither his daughter nor his family relief or comfort.
“When somebody’s sentenced to four years in prison, nobody feels good,” Wendland said. “We just want him to understand what’s been done to our family. It’s been devastating for all of us.”
ahannon@durangoherald.com
