Man pleads guilty in drunken driving crash that killed 4

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NORTH HUNTINGDON, Pa. (AP) — A man who was driving drunk when he caused a head-on crash in western Pennsylvania that killed four people earlier this year was sentenced to 8 to 20 years in prison.

Timothy Richardson, 32, of Pitcairn, was sentenced Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide stemming from the Feb. 14 crash in North Huntingdon.

Richardson was driving westbound but entered the oncoming lane, where he crashed into a vehicle carrying three women who were returning home from a Lunar New Year Mass at a Pittsburgh church.

Jeffrey Tomay, 44, of McKeesport, who was riding in the front seat of Richardson’s car, and the driver of the other car, 51-year-old Thu Thi Xuan Nguyen of Greensburg, were pronounced dead at the scene. Two North Huntingdon woman who were riding in Nguyen’s car — 67-year-old Lan Thi Trinh and 30-year-old Phuongan Trinh Tran — later died at a hospital.

Richardson suffered multiple injuries in the crash. Investigators have said his vehicle, which he had bought a month earlier, said the vehicle recently failed inspection with unsafe rear brakes, leaking fuel lines and other deficiencies.

Speaking at Tuesday's hearing, Richardson apologized for his actions. He told the judge he is being treated for mental illness and has nightmares about the crash.