Nicholas Villeneuve sentenced to 6 years for drunk driving crash that killed couple, paralyzed man

A drunk driver who caused a fatal accident in 2019 has been sentenced to six years behind bars.

Nicholas Villeneuve, 26, pleaded guilty to four charges — two counts of operating a vehicle while impaired causing bodily harm and two counts of operating a vehicle while impaired causing death.

In provincial court in Gander Tuesday, he was sentenced to six years for each of the four charges but will serve them concurrently.

Villeneuve was speeding down a wet and dark Trans-Canada Highway while nearly twice over the legal alcohol limit on July 7, 2019. 

The Gander man, who was 20 at the time, killed John and Sandra Lush of Lewisporte in a head-on collision.

Their daughter, Suzanne, and her boyfriend, Joshua Whiteway, were also in the car. Suzanne suffered serious injuries including a lacerated liver, and Whiteway was paralyzed in the crash.

Whiteway, who attended the sentencing Tuesday with friends and family for support, told CBC News he had mixed feelings.

"Six years isn't a long time. I'd like to see more, and especially going forward, we see so many instances where impaired driving is ruining people's lives," he said. 

"Forgiveness is a strange thing to think about. How do you forgive someone who killed two people you loved? I do hope he has learned."

Judge Jacqueline Jenkins told court she took Villeneuve's age at the time into account, but said a "blatant disregard for the rules of the road" played a part in the decision.

"This was no accident. He made a previous stop in Gander. So he made this fatal, horrific choice twice that night," Jenkins told the court.

"There's no way of knowing the suffering they endured as they died…The word 'devastating' doesn't suffice."

Villeneuve, who had eight previous convictions under the Motor Vehicles Act, faces a seven-year driving ban following his time in prison.

Defence lawyer Rosellen Sullivan had asked the court for Villeneuve to serve five years in jail and be prohibited from driving for five years.

Villeneuve will also be credited 53 days time served since his conviction in mid-November.

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