Providence Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman
Nicholas Whiteley appears in Kent County Superior Court Tuesday.
WARWICK, R.I. -- Nicholas M. Whiteley changed his plea from not guilty to no contest in the drunken-driving crash on Shippeetown Road in East Greenwich that claimed the lives of Michael Ruggieri, 19, and Madeline E. Healey, 18, and injured Christopher Mortin nearly a year ago.
Whiteley, 22, who still has bare patches on his head where hair doesn't grow over the scars from his own injuries in the Feb. 19, 2012, crash, addressed the families, with tears streaming down his face and his words sometimes choked by sobs. "I loved both of them. I'm sorry," he said.
After the victim-impact statements, Superior Court Judge Bennett R. Gallo sentenced Whiteley to 10 years, with 3 to serve in prison and 3 to serve on home confinement, followed by a 5-year loss of license and 2 years of having an interlock device on his vehicle.