Family reluctantly accepts plea deal w/ Brenda Montgomery video

By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

PINEVILLE, Mo. — The family of an Oklahoma man who was killed in a drunken-driving accident last year in Noel grudgingly accepted a plea agreement Wednesday that will send the driver to prison for 15 years.

Several family members had asked that Ricky Crase’s two 15-year prison sentences be served consecutively rather than concurrently as prescribed by the plea deal. Crase, of Collinsville, Okla., was drunk when he crashed his pickup truck on the Yarnell Branch bridge on Missouri Highway 90 in Noel on Aug. 31.

The wreck claimed the lives of his two passengers, Aaron Gillming and John Lackey, also of Collinsville.

Gillming’s mother, Brenda Montgomery, excoriated Crase during his sentencing hearing Wednesday morning in McDonald County Circuit Court. Crase, who has been in the McDonald County Jail since being extradited earlier this year from Oklahoma, where he was serving a prison sentence for arson, was in street clothes rather than an orange jumpsuit and shackles.

“It doesn’t matter, Ricky, if you wear that,” Montgomery said of his street clothes. “You are still what you are: a murderer. A double murderer. With no remorse. With no heart.”

‘A menace to society’

Crase’s criminal history includes several convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol, all in Oklahoma. Montgomery contended that Crase, 44, would be only 56 if he were released after serving the minimum requirement of a 15-year sentence. She also argued that his record showed he likely would offend again if released.

“He needs to be locked up forever,” Montgomery said. “He is a menace to society.”

The plea agreement with the McDonald County prosecutor’s office called for the 15-year sentences, along with a four-year sentence for driving while intoxicated as a persistent offender, all to be served concurrently.

Family members initially balked at the deal, although prosecutors said they feared that certain “procedural” aspects of the case posed risks either during the trial or for an appeal if they successfully secured a conviction.