A Merrill man has reached a plea deal stemming from an OWI-crash in 2022 that resulted in an 8-year-old Gleason boy's death.
John Lahti, 43, pled no contest to two charges in court last week, homicide by intoxicated use of vehicle and OWI causing injury (2+). He faces more than 40 years in prison.
A telephone scheduling conference scheduled for March 14 and a sentencing hearing will likely be scheduled then.
Five other charges were dropped as part of the plea deal including second degree reckless homicide.
Authorities say the crash happened just before 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17, 2022, on State Highway 17 near the town of Merrill. They say the man was drinking and driving when he crossed the center line and hit another truck, which had two adults and two children inside. The 8-year-old boy, Ian Skaar, died.
