LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A Lititz man pled guilty and was sentenced up to eight years in prison for his role in a fatal horse and buggy crash.
According to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office, Phillip Sullivan II, 20, entered a guilty plea and was sentenced last Friday on 13 charges including a lead charge of homicide by vehicle while DUI.
He caused a crash along the 5700 block of Division Highway that killed 18-year-old Andrew Stoltzfus on July 5, 2021.
Sullivan reportedly admitted to having a BAC of .103 and THC- the major psychoactive component in marijuana- in his system after he drove from a Fourth of July party and crashed into the horse and buggy driven by Stoltzfus on Division Highway, U.S. Route 322, around 2:45 a.m.
The subsequent crash reconstruction reportedly showed Sullivan's car was traveling 68 miles per hour in a 45 MPH zone. The collision also killed the horse.
Assistant District Attorney Kyle Linardo prosecuted the case and stated during the hearing that the victim was on his way home after visiting his girlfriend.
Linardo further stated that Sullivan left the scene after the collision and mentioned the Amish community’s humbling ability to forgive in response to tragedies, something he had experienced in many meetings with the victim’s family and community members.
“[The Amish community] refrains that it is not their place to judge and that it is up to any person, and in this case the defendant, to take that second chance and make something of it,” Linardo said to Judge Wright on behalf of the victim’s family.
Linardo asked for a sentence of six to 20 years in prison.
Defense counsel asked for a sentence of three to eight years. The maximum sentence was 27.5 years.
“Being a judge would be a lot easier if I could hold a crystal ball and see what your future may hold,” Judge Wright said to the defendant. He then pointed to Sullivan accepting responsibility by pleading guilty and the presence of his family members in the courtroom as reasons for ordering the defense’s requested sentence.
Judge Wright also ordered Sullivan to write a letter of apology to the Stoltzfus family. “If you don’t [turn your life around], you’ll be spending a lot of time in an orange jumpsuit,” Wright continued. “You understand me?”
The defendant reportedly responded, “Yes, sir.”
