Agreement contains a stayed sentence and 10 years probation

Zachary Boucher, 22, stands to serve no jail time for his role in a crash last November that caused the death of one person and injured another.

Boucher’s blood alcohol content was above the legal limit when he struck head-on a Ford Mustang driven by Jordan Egge the night of Nov. 12, 2016 on state Highway 23. Egge was found dead at the scene, while his passenger, Madorie Schroer-Dolezal was injured and taken to the hospital, as was Boucher.

Under the terms of a plea agreement entered in Pipestone County District Court, Tuesday, Boucher pled guilty in exchange for a sentence that is stayed for 10 years, with probation for up to 10 years.

The proposed sentence was a departure from sentencing guidelines, which bases sentences on the severity of the offense and criminal record of the offender. When Boucher was originally charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide, for example, he was facing up to 20 years in prison. Additional charges carried even more prison time.

Travis Smith, an attorney representing Jack and Katherine Egge, Jordan’s parents, expressed the family’s objection to the plea agreement based on the fact that it includes no jail time.

“An agreement that contemplates the possibility of the defendant spending no time in jail whatsoever is unconscionable and unjust,” Smith said.

Katherine Egge said after the hearing that there is nothing that can bring her son back, but she believes time in prison would make Boucher feel a similar type of hopelessness that she feels every day when she wakes up knowing her son is gone.

“We need harsher drunken driving laws than what we have in this country,” she said. “The state of Minnesota has guidelines that they have issued and yet we have departure from those guidelines at the whim of prosecuting attorneys from different districts. It makes no sense that someone who did nothing to evade this accident — nothing as simple as applying his brakes, which would have changed the whole outcome — can walk away and not serve one single day in jail.”

Judge Terry Vajgrt deferred acceptance or rejection of the plea agreement until a presentence investigation, sentencing worksheet and chemical use assessment are complete. Once those are completed, a sentencing hearing will be scheduled.

About 50 people, mostly friends and family of the Egges, attended the plea hearing. Several of them wore buttons that said “Fed up with drunk driving” and “Justice for Jordan.” Katherine Egge said friends and family came from South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska to support them.

“They’ve been our strength,” she said.

Boucher plead not guilty to all four charges — two of vehicular homicide and two of criminal vehicular operation — in March and requested a jury trial. A pretrial and trial had been scheduled for August, but were canceled due to the plea agreement.