Pa. man gets 12 1/2 to 40 years in prison in wrong-way crash

LEBANON, Pa. (AP) — An eastern Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to 12 1/2 to 40 years in prison in a wrong-way crash that killed a teenager more than three years ago.

Lebanon County Judge Samuel Kline imposed the penalty today on 60-year-old Joseph Heil III of Pottstown.

State police said Heil was heavily intoxicated when he drove south in the northbound lanes of Interstate 81 and hit a minivan carrying a Schuylkill County family in October 2008.

Seventeen-year-old Melissa Fogel was killed and her father and two sisters severely injured.

Heil was convicted in a nonjury trial of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, aggravated assault and other charges.

Kline said the sentence was the stiffest allowed by law.

Defense attorney H. Christopher Crocker said his client also suffered permanent injuries.