COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A sentencing hearing took place Monday in Branch County Circuit Court in connection with a fatal traffic crash in May 2022.
After the Branch County Prosecutors office talked with the family of 58-year-old Laurie Bradley of Bath who was killed in the Bethel Township traffic crash, a plea agreement was worked out.
19-year-old Dylan Sadger pleaded no contest on July 10 to reckless driving causing serious impairment as part of the plea agreement.
Sadger was placed on probation for two years and was given a one year jail sentence which under terms of the plea agreement was the maximum sentence. The sentence was suspended over nine months.
Prosecutor Zack Stempien says he talked to the victim’s family, who agreed to the plea agreement which called for the charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor with successful completion of probation. A 15-year felony of reckless driving causing death along with two misdemeanor counts were dismissed by prosecutors.
The crash at Sikorski and Gilead Lake Roads occurred five days before Sadger’s 18th birthday. The case was in juvenile court until transferred to the circuit court in April.
Michigan State Police said Sadger’s SUV was eastbound on Sikorski Road when it failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection. The SUV struck Bradley’s southbound truck sending both vehicles into a ditch.
Bradley died at the scene. Sadger and Todd Bradley were transported to Bronson Hospital of Kalamazoo in critical condition. Two Bronson teens in Sadger’s SUV were treated at ProMedica Hospital in Coldwater.
I don’t understand how you could kill someone and get such a light sentence. I think something like this flies under the radar of most people who don’t pay attention to the news.