The 22-year-old man who was driving drunk and was high on marijuana when he crashed his car and killed his friend in Saugerties is sentenced.
John Playford will serve four to 12 years in state prison.
He plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter and reckless endangerment.
Police said Playford was driving on Route 32 on January 31 with a blood alcohol level more than two times the legal limit when his Jeep went off the road, hit a utility pole and crashed into a house. A passenger in the Jeep, 22-year-old Jacob Sweeney, was killed.
“The accident scene itself was horrific. The evidence indicates that there was no braking. This vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed,” said Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra at the time.
“[It] really should be a wakeup call for people out there and take notice and say ... 'this can happen to me; this could have been me; this could be one of my friends,' " he added.