GREENSBORO, Ala. (WIAT) — A Moundville man has been sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges regarding a July 4th fatal boat crash in 2018.
Ricky Latham is to serve 28 months in prison and then serve five years probation for the deaths of Richard Glover and Destiny Graben.
Tami Canant is Graben’s mother. She says her family is glad this phase is over but she is disappointed Latham was given “a light sentence” from Judge Marvin Wiggin at the Hale County courthouse.
“I think the sentencing the judge gave him was way too light for what he did,” Canant said. “We’ve been dragged five years through this almost and lots of rehashing pain and he gets only 2 years in jail and I do want him to get counseling.”
Latham’s defense lawyer Jim Standridge says the court’s ruling was fair but says families on both sides will carry this tragedy the rest of their lives.
“We were hoping for something that involved probation but we didn’t know and we accept the court’s sentence as we always do,” Standridge said. “We have people who lost their lives and people who lost their loved ones and people who will have injuries for life, so it was a horrible situation.”
Standridge says if Latham commits any criminal violations while on probation, the judge could possibly make him serve an additional 15 years in prison. Latham is not allowed to operate a boat while on probation and must have an interlock device on his car that detects the smell of alcohol.