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Updated 50 minutes ago
Saying he still didn't remember what he did, Clair Fink on Tuesday told a Westmoreland County judge that he deserved a long prison sentence for killing a Ligonier Township police officer in a violent drunken-driving crash.
Judge Christopher Feliciani ordered Fink, 33, of Ligonier, to serve 12 to 30 years in prison.
Fink pleaded guilty in September to third-degree murder for causing the May 2015 fatal crash that killed Lt. Eric Eslary near Idlewild Park. Police said Fink and a coworker had been drinking for hours before he drove the wrong way on Route 30 and struck Eslary's police cruiser head on.
“I wake up every morning and go to sleep every night knowing what I did but not remembering what I did,” Fink said In court.
Fink, who had a prior conviction in 2006 for driving under the influence, told Feliciani that repeat offenders including himself should receive harsh penalties.
Eslary's widow was one of a dozen friends and family members to testify during the two-hour sentencing hearing.
Mary Beth Eslary described to the judge her devastation when she helped remove her husband's critically injured K-9 partner, Blek, from the mangled vehicle and realized her husband was dead just a few feet away.
“He did not just kill my husband that night, he killed me. He killed the family I had. I do not forgive,” Mary Beth Eslary said.
All five of Eslary's children testified, including his 18-year-old daughter who told the judge she had forgiven Fink.
“We feel third-degree murder was too much. He did not intend to kill my father,” said Morgan Eslary, speaking for her sister and brother, ages 15 and 13.
Fink was charged with third-degree murder because he had crashed his pickup truck earlier that night and should have realized he was not capable of driving, according to Assistant District Attorney Allen Powanda. Instead, Fink continued and entered Route 30 going the wrong direction, drove several miles and crashed into Eslary, Powanda said.
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