A man from New Prague has pleaded guilty to getting drunk at a bar before he crashed his SUV in a farm field and killed a passenger who was awaiting the birth of his third child.
Jesse D. Brown pleaded guilty in Le Sueur County District Court last week to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the rollover crash in 2017 that killed Jarrett F. Luethe, 26, of Sparta, Wis.
A sheriff's deputy arrived at the scene, southeast of New Prague on 141st Avenue in Lanesburgh Township, on the night of Aug. 24, 2017, to see the vehicle on fire in a bean field and a New Prague police officer trying to revive Luethe as Brown stood nearby.
Brown told the deputy that he had three shots of liquor and six to seven beers that evening at a sports bar, according to the criminal complaint and other court records.
A preliminary breath test put his blood alcohol content at .183 percent — more than twice the legal limit for driving in Minnesota. A blood test hours later found a BAC of .13 percent, according to court records.
Brown's admission in court includes no plea agreement on his punishment. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 9.
Luethe was married with two children and another due in January 2018. He was a laborer for Ames Construction Co. and had just recently learned he was being promoted to foreman, according to his family.
His wife, Kelly Luethe, has sued both Brown and Carbone's Pizza & Sports Bar in New Prague, alleging that Brown "was provided and thereafter consumed the liquor while he was obviously intoxicated" in the hours leading up to the crash, which happened roughly 2 ½ miles from the bar.
The suit, filed in federal court, seeks at least $75,000 in damages.
Colby Lund, attorney for Carbone's, said Monday that "we've denied liability in the case [and] we will continue to vigorously defend the case." A message was left with Brown's attorney in the civil matter.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
