HILO — A 43-year-old Pahoa man was sentenced to three years in federal prison for a fatal Memorial Day weekend pickup crash last year in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
U.S. Chief District Judge Michael Seabright handed down the sentence to Kenneth James Ewing on Feb. 26 in Honolulu.
Ewing pleaded guilty Oct. 31 to first-degree negligent homicide and second-degree negligent injury for a one-vehicle rollover May 28 on Highway 11 that killed 48-year-old John Ashley Becker of Texas and injured another man, whose name wasn’t released by authorities.
Ewing also will have to serve three years of supervised release, the federal equivalent of probation, after he is released from prison.
Park officials said Ewing was traveling Ka‘u-bound shortly before 9 p.m. May 28 when he lost control of the white Toyota Tacoma near the 33-mile marker on Highway 11 within the national park boundaries. The vehicle rolled over and all three occupants were ejected.
An affidavit filed by a park ranger said numerous alcohol containers, including two 1.75-liter vodka bottles, were “littered around and in the vehicle” and “beer bottles were also strewn about the scene.”
The ranger also reportedly smelled alcohol on Ewing, Becker and the third individual, who was taken by ambulance to Hilo Medical Center for treatment.
According to the document, a blood sample taken from Ewing revealed a blood-alcohol level of 0.312, almost four times the DUI threshold of 0.08.
State court records indicate Ewing’s license was revoked in an administrative procedure Dec. 29, 2013, for driving under the influence, although no record could be found of him being convicted of a DUI charge.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.