Judge Natalie Bokota recalled the deadliest drunken driving crash in Northwest Indiana history when she told Ryland Hart he needed to do a year in prison.
She alluded to the September 12, 1991, fiery crash in Cedar Lake where Michael Flores slammed into the back of a van coming back from a Hanover Central volleyball game – killing seven, which included two teachers, their teen daughters, two other teens and his fiance.
He spent 18 years in prison and was released in 2010, records show. Then, in 2023, she sentenced him again, this time to community corrections and probation for another drunken driving case.
“I don’t want that to be your life,” she said.
Hart, 21, of Peotone, Illinois, pleaded guilty in March to three counts in the Sept. 10, 2023, drunken crash near Lowell that killed his best friend, Alex Cardenas, 18, also of Peotone. Hart was driving back from a Hammond party.
Hart, his brother, 16, and two others in the backseat were hurt and taken to the hospital. He admitted he drank heavily that night and multiple beverages were scattered at the crash site.
Bokota sentenced Hart Friday to one year in prison, two years in Lake County Community Corrections and two years of probation. Hart wasn’t sure if he would appeal.
On the stand, Cardenas’ mother Teresa spoke of her grief and the “life sentence of pain.”
Half of the courtroom was filled with loved ones wearing blue memorial T-shirts.
He was “everybody’s best friend,” she said. One day, she would forgive. Hart should live to “honor the life he helped destroy.”
Lindsey Kras, Hart’s mother, said her son lived every day with the crash.
Deputy Prosecutor Lindsey Lanham asked for two years in prison and four in Lake County Community Corrections. Hart’s license will also be suspended.
“Drinking and driving kills,” she said. “Mr. Hart knows better.”
Defense lawyer Robert Varga said it was an accident his client would always live with.
“You can’t have a worse outcome of an accident,” he said. “Alex is dead.”
Hart, fighting anxiety, expressed remorse.
“I love Alex,” he said, calling him a ray of sunshine. “I know what I did.”
Cardenas’ family filed a wrongful death lawsuit that named Hart. It was settled for $50,000 last month.
After the hearing, Cardenas’ brother Carlos said they ran a landscaping business together that he had to close after Alex died. Alex was “awesome” and an “all-star.”
When asked if the sentence was acceptable, he said the family was focused on healing and their faith.
The sentence “is what it is,” he said. “I hope he learned his lesson.”
Hart pleaded guilty to causing death when operating a motor vehicle with an ACE of .08 or more, causing serious bodily injury when operating a motor vehicle with an ACE of .08 or more, and a misdemeanor operating while intoxicated endangering a person.
mcolias@post-trib.com; the Chicago Tribune contributed.
