KAPKO

WARWICK — An 18-year-old West Warwick man, who last month entered guilty pleas in the March 2008 crash that took the life of Luisa Avila, a 46-year-old mother of two, began serving two years’ home confinement Thursday.

Graeme V. Kapko pleaded guilty in Superior Court on April 30, under a plea agreement, to charges of driving to endanger, death resulting; driving to endanger, injury resulting; and being a minor in possession of alcohol. Judge John E. Orton gave him a 10-year suspended sentence, 10 years’ probation and a three-year license suspension on the first charge; home confinement on the second charge, and a $150 fine on the possession charge.

On Thursday, Kapko reported to Superior Court Judge Stephen P. Nugent. Speaking only to give his name, birth date and address, Kapko was immediately taken away to be processed at the Adult Correctional Institutions. Nugent waived the normally mandatory overnight ACI stay and Kapko began serving his sentence that evening at his West Warwick home.

“Cases such as these are horrible tragedies and no matter what sentence a defendant receives, it will not be enough to bring the victim — a mother and sister — back,” said Assistant Attorney General Jay Sullivan, who prosecuted the case.

Sullivan said the state had advocated for a harsher sentence — a year in the ACI followed by two years in home confinement. Driving to endanger, death resulting carries a maximum penalty of 10 years at the ACI, though most are required to serve three to five, he said. The Avila family supported the state’s recommendations, Sullivan said.

In April, Judge Orton cited Kapko’s age and clean record, as well as a determination that alcohol was not a factor in the accident, as guiding the sentence he imposed.

Kapko’s lawyer, William J. Murphy, said Kapko apologized to the family of Luisa Avila, who also lived in West Warwick, when the plea agreement was accepted in April.

“Mr. Kapko and his family are very remorseful,” Murphy said. “It’s a tragedy what happened and he’s fully accepted responsibility.”

Prosecutors said Kapko left a house party on Spencer Street in West Warwick at about 10:30 p.m. on March 20, 2008, and drove another teenager to a Wendy’s at Rhode Island Mall, in Warwick. After eating, the teens drove south on Route 2, and Kapko’s 2004 Volkswagen Jetta slammed into Avila’s 1990 Toyota Camry as she tried to turn onto Quaker Way, near the Kent County Court House.

Avila was heading home from her job at the Amtrol manufacturing company when the accident happened, at about 11:15 p.m. The police estimated Kapko was driving about 85 mph in a 45-mph zone and found no skid marks to indicate he braked before impact, prosecutors said.

Kapko was 17 at the time of the accident, but was prosecuted as an adult, in part, because of Avila’s death, but also because there would be less time to rehabilitate him in Family Court, Sullivan said. In 2007, the General Assembly changed the cutoff age for Family Court matters to 19 years of age, from 21.

Although Kapko had been at a party drinking alcohol beforehand, said Michael J. Healey, spokesman for the attorney general’s office, there was no evidence that he was intoxicated at the time of the crash. A chemical breath test was not taken, and Kapko was never charged with driving under the influence. Prosecutors said about a dozen cans of beer, an empty beer can and a bottle of Southern Comfort whisky were found in Kapko’s car.

tbuford@projo.com