Man sentenced to 1 year in jail for fatally striking pedestrian in Moose Lake
MOOSE LAKE, Minn. — A judge sentenced a 22-year-old northern Minnesota man to one year in jail for fatally striking a pedestrian with his vehicle after he said he had been "jamming out" to music.
Brent Keranen pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide while under the influence of cannabis for the March 21 incident in Moose Lake.
The crash happened shortly after 2 p.m. along Highway 73 near Jon Brown Drive. Charges say Keranen told police he had been listening to the radio when a good song came on, prompting him to play "air guitar," when his vehicle's airbags suddenly deployed. He said he did not know he had hit someone.
Keranen later claimed that he was, "looking down and jamming out a bit and next thing you know, I hit somebody," according to the criminal complaint.
Justin McNeil, 61, died as a result of his injuries.
Law enforcement had Keranen perform field sobriety tests and a roadside breath test showed he had an alcohol concentration of .06, which is below the legal limit of .08.
Keranen had allegedly been working in the metro area and was returning home at the time of the incident. He said he had been working a lot of hours and was tired, adding that he even fell asleep while driving a few hours earlier and struck a state trooper's squad car, charges state. He received a citation for the incident.
Keranen's sentencing is considered a downward departure — a more lenient sentence than what guidelines recommend. In Minnesota, someone convicted of criminal vehicular homicide can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
After Keranen completes his jail sentence, he will have 10 years of supervised probation. If he violates the terms of his probation, he could go to prison for 10 years.
