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Driver charged in Sealy's death
Posted: Wednesday May 24, 2000 02:22 PM
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The wrong-way driver accused of killing Malik Sealy of the Minnesota Timberwolves in a head-on crash was charged Wednesday with drunken driving and vehicular homicide. Souksangouane Phengsene had a blood-alcohol level of nearly twice the legal limit, the Hennepin County attorney's office said. The 43-year-old Minneapolis man was ordered to be in court Thursday but his appearance could be postponed if he remains hospitalized. An emergency worker reported that Phengsene, who was convicted of misdemeanor drunken driving in Des Moines, Iowa, three years ago, smelled of alcohol as he was extricated from the wreckage. Phengsene had a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.19 percent, said Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar. The legal limit is 0.10 percent. He was charged under three provisions of the criminal vehicular homicide law: driving in a grossly negligent manner, driving in a negligent manner while under the influence of alcohol, and driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.10 percent or more. Investigators said Phengsene was driving the wrong way on Highway 100 early Saturday when his pickup smashed into Sealy's sport utility truck in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park, killing the 30-year-old player who helped the Timberwolves post their best season in franchise history this year. Sealy was returning from a birthday celebration for teammate Kevin Garnett. His blood-alcohol concentration was 0.08 percent, under the legal limit, so it was not relevant to the charges against Phengsene, Klobuchar said. For someone without a prior felony criminal record, state sentencing guidelines call for a four-year prison sentence for conviction on criminal vehicular homicide. If convicted on all charges, he would serve the four-year terms concurrently. Phengsene traveled between Des Moines and Minnesota in recent years, but in the last two months seemed to be settling in the Twin Cities, family members said. Sealy's funeral is Friday in New York.
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