VANCOUVER – The man who killed two Coquitlam women while driving drunk has been sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison, plus an 8 year driving prohibition.
Cory Sater was sentenced today in New Westminster Provincial Court.
His lawyers had asked for three-and-a-half years in jail, while the Crown recommended eight or nine years.
Sater was convicted in January of dangerous and impaired driving causing death.
The judge told Sater that it was important that when he returns to the community, that he deals with his problems and becomes a law-abiding member of the community. The judge said the sentence was “lengthy.”
Three years ago he was driving drunk along the Lougheed Highway in Coquitlam. He slammed into two women who were standing along the highway.
Charlene Reaveley and Lorraine Cruz were thrown 20 metres and died instantly. Reaveley, a mother of four, had pulled over to help Cruz and her boyfriend who had been in a minor fender-bender.
Sater left the scene.
In court earlier this week, Crown counsel Chris McPherson called Sater’s actions the “act of remarkable selfishness” and that his offenses are on “par with manslaughter and the only thing worse is murder.”
The evidence, the Crown said, is very strong. Referring to the bar’s video surveillance which clearly showed how many drinks Sater had at the bar that evening before getting into his SUV and that he didn’t have a valid driver’s license.
According to the Crown, Sater did not have a license when he ran down and killed the two victims because of failing to pay previous fines and due to his driving history which included several speeding infractions and two 24-hour prohibitions.
WATCH: Cory Sater trial: Security cam footage released
More than 50 people packed the courtroom on Monday to take part in the victim impact statements made by family and friends of the two women killed in the accident.
Reavely’s mother, Mary Ogilvie, was already in tears before making her statement. In it she said, “Charlene was my only child. I am a mother now but I do not have my child. Everything near and dear to me was taken away that night.”
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