Man Faces Lengthy Prison Sentence After Pleading Guilty In Fatal Boat Crash

PORT HURON (WWJ/AP) - A 32-year-old Michigan man has pleaded guilty in a boat crash that killed two people near Harsens Island.

Brandon Verfaillie entered the plea Monday to two counts of operating a vessel while intoxicated and causing death and to one count of operating a vessel while intoxicated, causing serious injury, The Times Herald of Port Huron reported.

Verfaillie was operating a 25-foot speedboat that crashed into a cabin cruiser on the South Channel of the St. Clair River in August.

Two people on the cabin cruiser, 57-year-old Robert Koontz of Chesterfield Township and 68-year-old Nancy Axford of Winnipeg, Manitoba, were killed in the crash. Three others on the cabin cruiser were injured.

No injuries were sustained by Verfaillie or his two passengers.

Michigan State Police found Verfaillie's blood alcohol content was 0.105 shortly after the crash. The legal limit on water is 0.1.

Verfaillie faces up to 15 years in prison for each of the deaths and five years in prison for injury when sentenced Jan. 12.

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