A Duluth boater who rammed a dock and a lift on an Iron Range lake, killing a Burnsville woman and injuring himself and two others, has been sentenced to a year in jail.
Brian K. DeRoche, 51, was sentenced in St. Louis County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the incident on Dinham Lake after dark on July 20, 2017.
Along with time in jail, DeRoche's sentence calls for seven years of probation. During that time he must undergo chemical dependency treatment and abstain from using alcohol and illicit drugs, and he is prohibited from entering bars or liquor stores.
Ann Marie DeLanghe, 54, who was on the boat that DeRoche was operating, was pitched into the lake 20 miles south of Eveleth after the boat hit the dock and lift. She was taken to a Duluth hospital in critical condition and died from her injuries.
Also on the boat were DeRoche's wife, Cindy, 46, and DeLanghe's husband, Ernest, 58. The two, along with Brian DeRoche, made it to shore with minor injuries.
At one point, Brian DeRoche asked a sheriff's deputy at the scene, "Did we lose somebody tonight?" the criminal complaint read.
A blood sample collected by authorities from Brian DeRoche more than three hours after the crash measured his blood alcohol level at 0.14 percent, nearly double the legal limit of 0.08.
