Drunk driver who killed two gets 10 years in prison

Drunk driver who killed two gets 10 years in prison

WARREN

Paul Wodianka of Diamond, Ohio, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in last year’s car accident that killed Jamie and Emily Danes of Newton Falls.

Wodianka pleaded guilty today in Trumbull Common Pleas Court to an indictment. Members of the young couple’s family gave emotional victim impact statements.

A Trumbull County grand jury indicted Wodianka, 42, on two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, four counts of drug abuse and one count of driving under the influence of alcohol and or drugs.

Police said he was involved in a head-on crash that killed the Newton Falls couple Sept. 21 in Newton Township.

Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol said they suspected Wodianka may have been under the influence of alcohol and or drugs during the crash and said blood and urine tests were done on him while he was being treated at St. Elizabeth Health Center, Youngstown.

Wodianka, who was convicted twice in Mahoning County courts for operating a vehicle while impaired, told police he had gone to Sam’s Pizza on South Canal Street in Newton Falls about 7 p.m. Sept. 21.

About 10:30 p.m., Wodianka’s vehicle crossed the center lane on South Canal and hit the car driven by Jamie Danes, 37, head-on at a high rate of speed.

The crash killed Danes, who worked at the Austintown Rulli Bros. store, and his wife, Emily Danes, 29, who worked for the Cadle Co. in Newton Falls.

The Daneses were returning home from dinner and a movie in Niles to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

The Daneses left an 8-year-old son.