Car thief who killed librarian in crash makes unusual request

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A man who killed a librarian after crashing a stolen car into hers has "gotten his wish" -- a longer prison sentence, after telling a judge that the plea deal offered by prosecutors was too lenient.

According to CBS affiliate KCTV, Wyandotte County, Kansas prosecutors offered Joshua Brazeal a 41-month jail sentence, in the deadly crash that claimed the life of 79-year-old Geraldine Strader on August 19, 2014.

Judge Bill Klapper rejected that deal and sentenced Brazeal to six-and-a-half years instead of about three-and-a-half, the station reported.

On that day last summer, Brazeal stole a car and collided with the victim's vehicle as he was speeding away from police. Strader, the well-known librarian, was thrown from her car.

Brazeal was on probation at the time of the fatal crash so he will also have to serve time for violating his probation.

The prosecutors said they offered the plea deal to avoid putting the victim's family through a lengthy trial and to let the defendant take responsibility for his actions.

Strader's family was critical of the initial sentencing offer.

"What I'm left with is our judicial system seems to be broken. How did an assistant DA analyze these charges, including all of the charges they chose not to bring forth, how did they analyze that and agree to a 41-month agreement in the first place?," the victim's daughter, Kathleen Brandt, told KCTV.

But more unexpected was that Brazeal himself, as well as his sister, agreed with Brandt and asked the judge for a harsher punishment.

"I knew it wasn't right. I knew Josh has been let off so easily. This had to stop. This had to end. I had to say something to get him the help he needs," Laura Brazeal, the sister, told the station. "What he did was wrong. He needs to face it like a man, stand up, and no longer be the victim. He is not a victim. Drug addicts are not victims they are users."