On his 40th birthday, Edward C. O'Boyle admitted Friday in Schuylkill County Court that he was intoxicated when he caused the September 2011 accident that killed a Mahanoy Area High School teacher, an admission that will cost him at least three years of freedom.
O'Boyle, Mahanoy City, pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, DUI, failure to drive on roads laned for traffic and a seat belt violation, in connection with the accident that resulted in the death of Jeffrey A. Donnelly.
President Judge William E. Baldwin accepted O'Boyle's plea, but did not immediately schedule sentencing, instead ordering preparation of a presentence investigation.
O'Boyle said little during the hearing except to indicate that his plea was knowing and voluntary.
He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three to six years in a state correctional institution for the charge of homicide by vehicle while DUI.
Prosecutors withdrew charges of homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter, although Assistant District Attorney Michael A. O'Pake said that carries little importance because O'Boyle pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle while DUI.
"A separate sentence could not be imposed on them anyway," because they would merge with the charge of homicide by vehicle while DUI, O'Pake said.
By entering his plea, O'Boyle admitted causing the accident on Sept. 18, 2011, that claimed the life of Donnelly, 51, of Barnesville.
State police at Frackville said O'Boyle was driving a 1994 Jeep Cherokee Sport west on State Road when he crossed into the eastbound lane while traveling uphill on a right-hand curve and collided head-on with the 2006 Suzuki motorcycle being driven east by Donnelly.
After the crash, both vehicles traveled off the road and came to a stop on the shoulder, police said. Donnelly and his motorcycle were both found partially under the front of O'Boyle's SUV, police said.
O'Boyle originally pleaded guilty on Oct. 17, 2012, and was to have been sentenced to serve three to six years in a state correctional institution. However, after hearing from Donnelly's family, Judge John E. Domalakes rejected the plea agreement that included that sentence, and O'Boyle withdrew his plea.
O'Pake had no further comment on the case, and Chief Public Defender Michael J. Stine, O'Boyle's lawyer, declined to comment on the case after his client entered his plea.
On May 5, 2012, the Mahanoy Area Girls Softball League renamed its field the Jeff Donnelly Memorial Sports Complex.Defendant: Edward C. O'Boyle
Age: 40
Residence: Mahanoy City
Crimes committed: Homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, DUI, failure to drive on roadways laned for traffic and seat belt violation
