Fugitive crash driver jailed in US

A man who fled to Ireland to avoid charges that he killed three American college students in a 2001 drink-driving crash has been jailed in the US.

Frederick Russell was sentenced to the maximum 14 years, three months in prison by a judge who told him he deserved no leniency.

The 29-year-old was convicted in November on three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of vehicular assault.

He was drunk, speeding and trying to overtake in a no-overtaking zone when his car crossed the centre line and smashed into a car containing six fellow Washington State University students.

“I’m sorry – you’ve been waiting too long to hear that,” Russell, clutching a rosary, told the surviving victims and the relatives of those killed.

Russell’s disappearance added insult to their pain, several said yesterday.

Russell, who suffered only minor injuries in the crash, failed to appear for a court hearing after the crash.

Police said he fled to Ireland.

Shortly afterwards, several newspapers received a letter allegedly signed by the fugitive. It said he feared for his life and did not think he would receive a fair trial.

“I maintain my innocence. But my life has been repeatedly threatened, so I cannot stay,” the letter said.

In 2005, the US Marshals Service placed Russell on its Most Wanted list, the only drink-driving suspect to make it.

He had been working as a security guard in a Dublin city centre store when in 2005 a colleague surfing the internet spotted his posting on the wanted website.

He was using an alias, David Carroll, and had been living under the radar for years. Russell fought extradition but was returned to the US in 2006. The judge declined to give Russell credit for time he served while awaiting extradition from Ireland.