Man pleads guilty in Lake Michigan boat crash that killed two

CROWN POINT — A man pleaded guilty to the deaths of two men in a fatal boat crash on Lake Michigan.

On Tuesday Tony Gibson, 39, formerly of Lake Village, pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless homicide from a July 2016 Lake Michigan boat crash.

Both counts are level 5 felonies, which each carry a possible sentence of one to six years in prison, according to court documents. The advisory sentence is three years in the Indiana Department of Correction.

The crash killed 68-year-old retired Hammond firefighter Richard Wade, of Hammond, and 62-year-old Timothy Dunlap of Lynwood. The two men’s bodies were located and recovered from the water near the crash site on the morning of July 23, 2016, according to officials. Gibson was found walking barefoot on land.

Gibson admitted to drinking alcohol the night of the crash and his blood alcohol content was between .057 and .0675 several hours after the crash, according to court documents.

In March 2017, Gibson was booked into Lake County Jail on two counts of operating a motor boat while intoxicated resulting in death, two counts of reckless homicide, two counts of criminal recklessness, operating a motorboat while intoxicated, speeding and exceeding the nighttime speed limit of 10 mph, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. All other charges except for the two counts of reckless homicide were dismissed, court records show.

The boat crash occurred on Lake Michigan between July 22-23. State conservation officials said Gibson was operating his 42-foot Fountain Powerboat, when it collided with the break wall near the ArcelorMittal steel mill in East Chicago.

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/man-pl...4aec71e.html#1