Saginaw Man Sent to Prison for Causing Fatal DUI

Jon M. Brown, a 29-year-old man from Saginaw, was recently sentenced to prison for causing the death of a taxi driver, and severely injuring his passenger in a drunk driving accident.

Court records show that the accident took place in the early morning hours of May 17th, 2015. Benjamin E. Martinson was traveling as a passenger in Barry E. Campbell‘s 1997 Chevrolet Astro van taxi. Martinson had been at the World Expo of Beer in Frankenmuth, and was on his way home when the accident happened. Brown was driving a 2014 Chevrolet Impala on I-75. However, he was traveling in the wrong direction, and the two cars collided.

Campbell, a 54-year-old husband and father, was killed in the accident. Martinson, the passenger, also a husband with two young children, was severely injured. Brown sustained a number of injuries as well, including a broken hip, leg, foot, and several arm injuries.

It was an emotional time in the Bay County Courtroom, as the surviving passenger, Martinson, shared his victim impact statement with the court. The accident caused Martinson a great deal of grief and trauma, as he suffered fractures to both legs and his pelvis, a ruptured bladder, a lacerated spleen and liver, and a punctured lung.

When Brown was given a chance to address the court, he expressed his sorrow and regret for what he had done, and said that he wanted nothing more than to be able to go back in time and undo the events of that day. “I’m very sorry for the loss and suffering you’ve endured. I can’t express enough how much I wish things were different,” he explained, and then went on to say that all he could do was “pray for you and ask for yours and God’s forgiveness.”

After expressing his sympathy for the victims and their families, Judge Sheeran spoke with compassion to the defendant. “Mr. Brown, I have to say that it’s seldom I see someone accept responsibility as completely … as you obviously have here. That certainly speaks well of you. You recognize that you made a decision that was not the best, to say the least, and led to consequences that are worse.”

Judge Sheeran sentenced Brown to two concurrent sentences. The first is for five to 15 years in prison, while the second is for 40 months to five years. He did however, also grant him time served for the 186 days that Brown has already spent in jail.