A Somers man was given a six-year deferred sentence after pleading guilty to a felony following a 2012 crash. 

Aaron Manuel, 39, was at the wheel on July 25, 2012, when he ran a stop sign and ended up in the path of another motorist on Montana 82. The other driver suffered sore ribs and a sore right knee and that driver’s passenger suffered several broken ribs and an injured shoulder.

A court document states a drug screen later showed Manuel had been drinking and was slightly under the legal limit for alcohol, but also had tetrahydrocannabinol — the psychoactive compound in marijuana — in his system at the time of the crash.

According to attorneys in the case, part of the reason Manuel was allowed to plead guilty only to felony criminal endangerment while a second felony charge of negligent vehicular assault was dismissed was due to a lack of victim interest in the case.

Deputy County Attorney Alison Howard said during the May 8 sentencing hearing that neither she nor the writer of a pre-sentence investigation report in the case were able to  contact the victims, who had received an insurance settlement that helped to pay for their medical bills.

A plea agreement in the case included a recommended sentence of three years, deferred, but District Judge David Ortley chose not to follow the agreement, still handing down a deferred sentence but doubling its length.

In addition to the deferred sentence, Ortley ordered Manuel to undergo a chemical dependency evaluation.

Ortley also addressed a secondary issue to the felony sentence connected to Manuel’s job as a hunting and fishing guide. As anyone convicted of a felony loses the right to possess firearms, Ortley clarified that Manuel could be “in the presence of” firearms in his work capacity, but that he could never be in control of one.

If Manuel completes his deferred sentence without any problems, the felony conviction will be scrubbed from his record and he can apply to regain his right to possess firearms at the state level.