VANCOUVER — A British Columbia man who killed three people while driving drunk along a winding mountain highway has been sentenced to eight years and four months in prison.
Samuel Alec pleaded guilty in B.C. Supreme Court last month to three counts of impaired driving causing death after he mowed down two cyclists who were out for a weekend ride north of Whistler in May 2015. Alec's friend in the passenger seat of the vehicle was also killed.
In an agreed statement of facts, court heard Alec, 46, was returning to his home in Lillooet from Mount Currie along Highway 99 following what was a "lengthy binge of drinking" after a friend's funeral.
He will remain in prison for an additional six years after 28 months credit is given for time he already served awaiting trial. The judge has ordered that Alec be banned from driving for 15 years when he is released.
The prosecution had asked for a 12-year sentence, while his defence lawyer argued four years would be more appropriate.
At his sentencing hearing last month, Alec tearfully apologized to the families of the three men he killed, saying that he would never be able to make up for the pain and suffering he caused after driving into the two cyclists.
Kelly Blunden and Ross Chafe were killed while riding their bicycles. Paul Pierre, Alec's friend, was killed while riding in the passenger seat.
"I know I am to blame and I take full responsibility for my actions. I am sorry for what I have done,'' Alec told the court last month.
"I ask myself what had become of my judgment, my common sense, my willpower. Why could I not see that drink meant ruin to me?"
