Dec 24, 2003 By Jennifer Harr 3 min read

A Fayette County judge accepted the guilty plea of a Ruffsdale man charged with drunkenly causing the fatal accident that took the life of 24-year-old Robert Hyland Jr. Michael Geyer, 33, pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence of alcohol, aggravated assault while DUI, homicide by vehicle and two other related charges. The plea calls for Geyer to serve three to six years in state prison and make an estimated $89,095.25 in restitution for hospital and funeral costs.

“This offer represents the mandatory sentence that the Legislature has provided,” District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon told President Judge Conrad B. Capuzzi.

Despite giving Geyer the mandatory offer, the plea upset Hyland’s mother, Karen Hyland, who said Vernon promised not to plea bargain in the case.

Plea bargains, however, are offered in all cases in Fayette County as part of routine court practice. Prosecutors offer each person who comes through court a plea as required. The term plea, said Vernon, often is misunderstood to mean that a defendant is getting a good deal.

Defendants are allowed to plead guilty to offenses under law instead of taking the case to trial, which is what Geyer opted to do at Tuesday’s proceedings.

Hyland died after a March 26 accident along a Route 119 intersection near Warehouse Groceries in Bullskin Township. Hyland was stopped at a red light, heading northbound, when Geyer hit him from behind, forcing Hyland’s pickup truck through the light.

A state police reconstruction expert determined that Geyer was traveling 64 mph in the 55 mph zone at the time of the accident. Police also determined that Geyer’s blood-alcohol level was .16 percent at the time of the accident. That was over the then-legal limit of .10 percent for driving in Pennsylvania.

During his plea, Geyer conceded that both speed and alcohol were factors in the fatal accident.

While Vernon told Capuzzi that Karen Hyland was present in court, the jurist said that the plea was not an appropriate time for her to comment on her feelings about the deal. He thanked Hyland for attending and urged her to come back when Geyer is sentenced Jan. 12 and offer any comments at that time.

Despite Hyland’s upset feelings over the plea, Vernon said that her offer was “substantially higher” than the standard sentence of 15 to 21 months for homicide by vehicle while DUI. That standard sentence is based on Geyer’s prior drug conviction in Westmoreland County as well as the gravity of the charges.

And while Vernon acknowledged that she could have legally offered a plea up to the maximum of 10 years in prison, she said that Geyer might not have accepted that higher offer and opted for trial. Even if he were convicted, Vernon said, she would have sought the mandatory three- to six-year sentence, and a judge probably would have sentenced him to that term, anyway.

In a letter to Hyland before Tuesday’s proceedings, Vernon told her that she understood her grief, but was “doing all that I can do that is within the reasonable limit of the law to prosecute this case.”

Vernon also urged Hyland to contact support groups for people who have been similarly frustrated by the law, in search of support and comfort.

For her part, Hyland said she remains in grief over the passing of her only son and acknowledges that she is not a legal expert on how the court system works.

“I just know I want justice,” she said, tearfully. “I want everyone to know my son was a wonderful person.”