Matthew Cordle Update: Ohio man who made confessional video after fatal DUI crash seeks reduced sentence
(CBS/AP) COLUMBUS, Ohio - Attorneys are seeking a reduced sentence for Matthew Cordle, an Ohio man who confessed in an online video to causing a fatal wrong-way crash after a night of drinking.
The attorneys say a fair sentence for Cordle is imperative to send a message about the value of taking responsibility for causing a tragedy.
A filing in Franklin County court Thursday asks Judge Davie Fais to sentence Cordle well below the maximum eight-year sentence allowed by law. The filing says Cordle has stopped drinking, is extremely remorseful and thoroughly ashamed.
George S. Breitmayer III, an attorney for Cordle, said in an interview with Crimesider in September that his client is "riddled with guilt."
Cordle pleaded guilty last month to killing Vincent Canzani of suburban Columbus. Cordle's online video confession, made against the advice of lawyers, has been viewed more than 2.2 million times.
In it, Cordle says he "made a mistake" when he decided to drive his truck home after "drinking really heavily." That decision, he said, is what led to the wrong-way crash June 22 that killed Canzani.
Cordle says in the video that although he may have been able to "get off" or "get a reduced sentence," he didn't want to "dishonor Vincent's memory by lying about what happened."
Prosecutors have until Friday afternoon to respond to the request for a reduced sentence.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 23.