Burbank Man Gets 23 Years For Drunken, Wrong-Way Crash That Killed Lancaster Pastor
SAN FERNANDO (CBSLA.com) — A Burbank man was sentenced Friday to 23 years to life in prison for a drunken crash that killed two people, including the pastor of a Lancaster church.
Bradford Pate, 40, apologized to the victims' families in court during an emotional sentencing hearing, saying he will "feel the sorrow" for the rest of his life.
Authorities say Pate drove his 2006 Toyota truck south on the northbound lanes of the freeway near Escondido Canyon Road south of Palmdale before dawn on June 22, 2013, striking a 2006 Chrysler being driven by the Rev. Manard Giles.
Giles, the 77-year-old pastor of The Answer Community Church of God in Christ in Lancaster, was killed in the crash. A passenger in Giles' car, Mattie Lee Ferguson, 60, of Lancaster, died later. A second passenger was trapped in the minister's vehicle until rescuers freed him.
Pate pleaded no contest in July to two counts of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI. In August, his attempt to withdraw from the plea deal, arguing he did not fully understand the terms of the deal, was rejected by the judge.
In court Friday, relatives of the victims gave emotional statements, including Giles' daughter, Esther Thomas Giles, who said her life is "a daily struggle to go on."
"My daddy was a gentle man who thought the best of everyone," she said. "I imagine if I could see my heart, a piece of it would be missing."
Pate stared straight ahead during most of the hearing, not making eye contact with any of the speakers. But he later apologized and asked for forgiveness.
"There won't be a day that I'm alive that I don't feel the sorrow," Pate said.
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