MADISON — Although he may have improved his behavior in other ways, Brian Hron, of Randolph, simply cannot overcome the need to drive fast in cars. For that, he went back to prison Tuesday on a charge of homicide by negligent operation of a motor vehicle stemming from a 2002 crash in which a passenger in his car, Jessica Mancheski, 16, of Cambridge, was killed.
Hron, 24, was stopped again for speeding in Columbia County last September, after leading Columbia County Deputy Sheriff Greg Bisch on a high-speed chase for 4 miles on State Highway 73, with speeds reaching an estimated 120 miles per hour. The Department of Corrections revoked him from extended supervision he was still serving from the accident that killed Mancheski.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge Patrick Fiedler held a hearing on the reconfinement issue Tuesday. After hearing how Hron had become a changed person but also how the Mancheski family continued to be devastated by the loss of Jessica, Fiedler sentenced Hron to the maximum three years in prison that was available.
Hron was sentenced 2003 for the homicide, when Fiedler gave him two years behind bars and three years of extended supervision. Under state law, a defendant who is revoked from extended supervision can be sent back to prison for the entire period of extended supervision.
Hron was almost finished serving his extended supervision when he was speeding up Highway 73 after dropping off his father at the Milwaukee airport Sept. 15, 2007. Bisch spotted Hron and gave chase. Hron speeded up, accelerating rapidly up Highway 73 and missing the turn to the home he resides in with his parents. Hron eventually stopped and admitted to fleeing the officer.
State Department of Corrections agent Katrina Kleven recommended Hron be put back in prison for a year, and defense attorney Joseph Fischer agreed with that recommendation. But Assistant District Attorney Brian Asmus asked the judge to impose the three-year maximum term, citing Hron's continued bad driving since the accident that killed Mancheski and injured two of her friends -- Melinda Hanson, then 17, of Fort Atkinson, and Nicole Kauper, then 19, of Edgerton.
"He continues to speed, he continues to flee officers and he continues to get into accidents," Asmus said in asking for the maximum term. Asmus called Hron's actions in fleeing in Columbia County "eerily similar" to the day Mancheski was killed when Hron speeded along London Road near Deerfield, missed a turn and crashed.
That was the fourth time since the accident that Hron has been involved in either speeding or a crash, and Asmus said that justified the maximum prison term. After the accident that killed Mancheski, Hron was out on bail and was arrested while speeding in Champaign County, Ill., which led to a bail jumping charge here.
In 2003, Hron led a Dane County Deputy Sheriff on a high-speed chase on U.S. 151 near Sun Prairie, at speeds of 122 mph and was charged again. He later had a rollover accident, Asmus said, and was then charged last fall with speeding and eluding in Columbia County.
Fischer agreed that some punishment was needed for Hron, but said, "I don't think he needs to be punished for three more years."
Earlier Fischer put on evidence showing Hron had matured from the time of the accident, had become involved in religious programs in prison and was a more responsible person.
"This is a young man who absolutely does accept responsibility," for his actions, Fischer said.
Meanwhile, Mancheski's parents and other relatives -- including an aunt and her grandmother -- were in the courtroom as aunt Angela Julian spoke, detailing how Mancheski is missed by the family and how her parents put a wreath on her grave every Thanksgiving morning. Julian told Hron that while he took away Jessica's ability to make choices in her life, he continued to make devastating choices in his own.
Fiedler, who gave Hron the maximum sentence at the time of the original sentencing, said that was a very difficult decision because Hron was only 18, but he felt it was necessary because Hron continued his bad driving -- even while out on bail.
"I was really hopeful that this would be a sufficient amount of punishment to impress upon you that society will not tolerate" that type of bad driving, the judge said.
Fiedler said though Hron's initial case may have generated some sympathy for him given his youthful age, Hron should have learned by now.
"When this latest incident happens, you are 24," he said. "I just don't have a grasp on you all these years later."
In the end, the judge said the need for public protection outweighed other considerations, and he ordered the three-year prison term.
"Every time you do this you are putting someone else's life in danger," he said.
Hron spoke briefly, saying "I cannot express how awful I feel," and later added he continually "verbally chastised" himself for his actions.
Along with the three-year sentence handed down by Fiedler, Hron could be sentenced to more than four years of prison and extended supervision time if convicted of his charges in Columbia County.