By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
An Ellis County judge sentenced an Illinois man to more than three years in prison Tuesday for a fatal DUI crash in 2021 that resulted in the death of a California man.
Dalton Charles Hall, 21, Savoy, Illinois, pleaded guilty in March to involuntary manslaughter while under the influence, aggravated battery while driving under the influence and driving under the influence.
District Judge Tom Drees sentenced Hall to 41 months in prison Tuesday for involuntary manslaughter in Ellis County District Court. He also received probation for aggravated battery while driving under the influence and driving under the influence.
According to court documents, Hall had a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when he crashed his car in the early morning hours of Oct. 24, 2021.
Hall was traveling at a high rate of speed on Eighth St. and failed to stop at the stop sign at the U.S. 183 Alternate, causing the car to go airborne over an embankment. The car flipped end over end and came to rest on its top.
Jacob Rivera, 19, Selma, California, died as a result of the accident. Two passengers, Chelsey Mendoza, 20, Selma, California and Victoria Borrego, 21, Pacifica, California, suffered serious injuries and were taken to Hays Medical Center. Hall also suffered serious injuries in the accident and was hospitalized in Hays.
All four individuals were members of the Northwest Kansas Technical College wrestling team, and their families said the two men became close friends when they arrived in Goodland for school.
In Kansas, an involuntary manslaughter conviction carries the standard sentence of 41 months in prison.
At Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Hall and his attorney Curtis Brown asked the court to sentence him to probation in a motion for downward dispositional departure from a prison sentence.
Hall, who was 20 at the time of the accident, said he used recreational drugs and alcohol before the Oct. 2021 accident but became addicted to fentanyl after the accident as a way to cope.
During the nearly four hours of testimony in support of Hall’s request for probation, Hall, his father, two family friends, and two people who regularly attend Narcotics Anonymous with Hall in Illinois spoke.
While Hall’s father was on the stand, both he and Rivera’s father became overcome with emotion when Hall talked about how their two sons met when they first arrived on the Goodland campus. Rivera was so overcome with emotion that he broke down and left the courtroom.
Witnesses in support of Hall testified that they believed he has turned his life around after the accident and addiction and attending in-patient rehab. He said that he has been sober for more than a year and is engaged, and his fiancé is expecting a child in January.
Hall said there is not a day that goes by that he doesn’t think about the accident.
“I am sorry,” Hall said. “I never meant for it to happen.”
He also said that he wants to become an adolescent counselor to “honor Jacob by doing the right thing and by helping people like Jacob helped me.”
During cross-examination by Ellis County Attorney Robert Anderson, Hall said that the night of the crash, Oct. 24, 2021, was the second straight night that the group of four drove from Goodland to Hays. While in Hays, they drank, went to a bar and attended a party before driving back to Goodland. Hall drove both times.
Other members of Jacob Rivera’s family were also on hand Tuesday. They sat in the front row of the Ellis County Courthouse, wearing all black with shirts that showed Jacob “PeeWee” with his hands raised after winning a wrestling match.
Rivera’s mother read a statement to the court saying her life was changed forever that night and that while she forgives Hall, there are consequences for people’s actions.
“When he (Hall) gets out, he’ll be able to see his son, I won’t be able to,” she said.
On behalf of the Rivera family, Anderson was requesting a total prison sentence of 77 months for all three crimes.
When Judge Drees handed down his ruling, he said that no matter what the court ruled, it was not going to make anyone feel better and that “Jacob Rivera is forever 19.”
Drees elected not to grant Hall probation, he said that Hall’s efforts after the accident were not a reason to grant him probation, but he did believe that they were sincere.
“What matters is what happened,” Drees said. “He (Hall) knew he drank too much and chose to drive.”
He added that while all four drank that night, Hall was the “only one that chose to operate a vehicle after partying.”
The 41-month prison sentence handed down by Drees is the standard prison sentence for a first-time involuntary manslaughter conviction for someone with no criminal history in Kansas.
Drees sentenced Hall to 36 months probation for aggravated battery; driving under the influence. That will run consecutive to Hall’s post-release supervision on the involuntary manslaughter conviction.
Drees said that Hall will have that extra time “hanging over” his head, and if he violates either his post-release or probation, he could be sentenced to 32 months in prison.
Hall was taken into custody by the Ellis County Sheriff's Department following sentencing and will be transferred to the Kansas Department of Corrections.