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From the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office:

Humboldt County Superior Court Judge John Feeney today ruled on the punishment of 23-year-old Kade Chandler for two counts of felony gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and one count of misdemeanor driving under the influence of drugs causing injury. Chandler pled guilty to those charges last month.

The charges reflect the defendant’s actions on February 21, 2015 on Highway 36, when he drove into a tree, killing his passengers Savannah Kiana Kindred (21 years old) and Kendra Paige Leialoha Lewis (19 years old) and injuring passenger Bradley Thuemler (22 years old).

At today’s sentencing hearing, Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees argued that Chandler should receive a prison sentence. Relatives of Savannah and Kendra also addressed the court.

Judge Feeney suspended imposition of sentence and placed Chandler on a 10-year grant of supervised probation. If Chandler violates probation he may be sentenced to 12 years in prison: a maximum of 10 years for one count of gross vehicular manslaughter and 2 additional years for the second charge. As a condition of his probation, Chandler will serve 1 year in the Humboldt County Correctional Facility. Feeney also ordered Chandler to perform 1,000 hours of community service, including speaking to younger people about the dangers and consequences of impaired driving. Other terms of his probation include: no driving for 3 years, submit to chemical testing at the request of any law enforcement officer, submit to search and seizure at the request of an officer, and no association with anyone trafficking in controlled substances. As a convicted felon, Mr. Chandler will be prohibited from possessing firearms for life.

Mr. Chandler was remanded into custody at the conclusion of the proceedings to begin serving his 1-year jail commitment. A restitution hearing on the case is currently scheduled for January 12, 2018 at 9:15 am.

Humboldt County District Attorney Maggie Fleming expressed appreciation for the work of first responders (Carlotta Volunteer Fire Department and Bridgeville Volunteer Fire Department) and law enforcement (California Highway Patrol) on the case, which included a lengthy investigation.