Sharon man sentenced in DUI case

WARREN – A 22-year-old Sharon, Pa., man is sentenced to four years in prison for driving drunk when his best friend was killed in a traffic crash.

Lionel G. Stinson Jr. of Sherman Avenue will be able to seek early release after a year of the term is served at the Lorain Correctional Institution, without being opposed by the Trumbull County prosecutor.

If he does receive an early release, he will make restitution for the headstone of his friend, Kellen D. Newby, 21, of Hermitage, Pa., who died in the crash, said Kenneth Bailey, an assistant county prosecutor.

Stinson pleaded guilty to the vehicular homicide charge in October and was sentenced Wednesday by Judge W. Wyatt McKay in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Stinson was driving his vehicle along state Route 82 at state Route 62 in Brookfield Township when he lost control and the vehicle rolled over several times. His blood-alcohol was 0.137, which is over the legal limit of 0.08.

Newby was thrown out of the vehicle through the rear window and died of his injuries while another passenger suffered non-life-threatening injuries.