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Last updated on Thursday, November 9, 2017
(BLOOMFIELD) - The driver charged in a wreck that claimed the lives of three members of a Newburgh family was sentenced to a 15-year prison term Wednesday.
20-year-old Mason Hartke of Jasper appeared in Greene County Superior Court and pleaded guilty to three counts of causing death while operating a motor vehicle intoxicated.
Judge Dena Martin sentenced Hartke to five years on each count, ordering 1.5 years of each sentence suspended to probation.
Hartke also was recommended for the Indiana Department of Correction's purposeful incarceration program, an intensive therapeutic regimen to address addiction issues and prepare inmates for re-entry into society.
The guilty plea came during a lengthy court hearing nearly a year after the crash on Interstate 69 in Greene County that killed 46-year-old David Rinehart, 74-year-old Ruth Rinehart, and 17-year-old Sophie Rinehart.
According to police a Honda Civic, driven by David Rinehart, was traveling southbound on I-69 and had struck a deer causing the Honda to pull onto the outside shoulder and come to a stop.
Afterward, a Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck driven by Hartkey was traveling southbound on I-69 approaching Rinehart's location when the truck left the southbound lanes of traffic and entered the outside shoulder, striking the parked Honda.
The crash resulted in the deaths of David Rinehart, Ruth Rinehart, and Sophie Rinehart. Another passenger in the Honda, 18-year-old Josie Rinehart, suffered cuts and abrasions and was transported to IU Health Bloomington.
Hartkey was transported to IU Health after suffering a fractured arm.
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