Three years for fatal drunk driving crash

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/07/2023 (1003 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A drunk driver who killed his cousin while illegally behind the wheel in a high-speed 2020 crash has been sentenced to more than three years behind bars.

Jesse Aaron Campbell, 35, had pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death and operating a motor vehicle while prohibited.

Travis Murdock Sewap, 33 of The Pas, died in the Aug. 9, 2020, single-vehicle rollover near Cranberry Portage, on Sherridon Road, about nine kilometres from Highway 10, just after 11:30 a.m.

RCMP had to later secure an arrest warrant for Campbell, and he remained on the lam until September 2021.

In his July 21 sentencing decision, provincial court Judge Todd Allen Rambow wrote Campbell was “driving fast” on the gravel road — at twice the legal blood alcohol limit — when he rolled his vehicle into the ditch at a sharp corner.

Campbell was hospitalized with significant injuries. Two other passengers, a then-15-year-old girl from Flin Flon and then-33-year-old man from Pukatawagan, suffered minor injuries.

Sewap, however, was “not so fortunate,” Rambow said.

“He was pinned in the partially submerged vehicle and later died at Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre from his injuries,” the judge wrote, adding his death caused a significant rift in the family.

Campbell has a lengthy history in the courts, with convictions for a slew of administrative breaches, failures to comply and traffic offences, among others, dating to 2007.

In a pre-sentence report, it was revealed Campbell had responded poorly to community supervision orders in the past and is deemed a very high risk to reoffend.

However, the report found, Campbell has demonstrated remorse over the fatal rollover.

“Campbell… has insight into the effects of alcohol on his offending behavior, licence suspension, family and romantic relationships, school and employment, as well as insight into the harm he has now caused his family. He has a long history with alcohol and drugs, going back to age 11 or 12,” wrote Rambow, quoting the pre-sentence report.

The judge noted Campbell grew up in traumatic circumstances, which included exposure to alcohol, physical violence, sexual abuse and family disruption.

At the time of the crash that killed his cousin, Campbell was on a nine-month conditional sentence order for a June 10, 2020, theft of a motor vehicle. He had also pleaded guilty to two impaired driving offences and was given a year-long driving prohibition.

The Crown prosecutor had sought six years in jail and a 15-year driving ban.

Rambow ordered Campbell be banned from driving for eight years after his 1,257 days in prison.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca