Posted in Felonies on August 5, 2014
Ian J. Cole, 21, has been sentenced in Clark County after being found at fault for the deaths of two people in a car crash near downtown Vancouver last fall. The Ridgefield man received 102 months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide and one count each of vehicular assault and hit-and-run death. His Vancouver defense attorney and prosecutors agreed to jointly recommend a sentence of more than eight years. He was given the maximum sentence for each charge.
Cole was driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana last November 17 with three passengers in his vehicle. Witnesses stated that he was driving between 60 and 70 mph and doing “doughnuts,” or 360-degree turns, in a 30 mph speed limit zone. He eventually lost control of the car and slammed into a power pole, which caused a power outage.
Two of the passengers, Jesse E. Orellano-Leister, 20, and Cole’s best friend, Benjamin Folk, 25, were killed. Orellano-Leister died at the scene and Folk was severely injured and died a day later while in the hospital. The third passenger, Maxwell Borders, 19, was injured but survived. Cole fled the scene of the accident on foot and called Folk’s girlfriend, Kate Locken, and asked her to come get him.
Cole apologized and asked for forgiveness in court, admitting that he made poor decisions and that he feels deep remorse.
Source: The Columbian, “Ridgefield man gets 8.5 years for fatal crash,” Paris Achen, August 5, 2014.
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