Sentence upheld for drug-addled driver in deadly crash

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A driver who was high on a mix of illegal drugs when he struck a 72-year-old pedestrian in northern Michigan and then fled has lost a bid to have his sentence reduced.

A judge in Antrim County sentenced Adam Carl Calo to a minimum of more than 16.5 years in prison for the June 2020 crash in Antrim County’s Mancelona Township.

Calo “did not slow down after striking the victim and instead fled the scene,’’ court records show.

He was arrested after an Antrim County sheriff’s deputy saw Calo’s vehicle driving in the wrong lane of traffic not far from the crash site.

The woman he struck suffered multiple broken bones, including fractures to her pelvis, spine and leg. She died about three weeks later.

Calo was charged with second-degree murder and operating while intoxicated causing death. He pleaded no contest to operating while intoxicated causing death, a 15-year felony.

Because of prior felony convictions, his sentence was enhanced. The judge gave him 200 to 400 months in prison, noting three prior felony convictions and four misdemeanor convictions.

The sentence fell within the guideline range, but Calo argued it was “disproportionate and unreasonable.’’

In a five-page decision released this week, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel disagreed.

“At sentencing, the trial court referenced defendant’s criminal history, including a 2003 conviction for driving under the influence causing serious injury, and previous unsuccessful attempts at probation,’’ justices wrote.

When he was arrested, Calo admitted that he had taken heroin several hours before the crash. He was under the influence of heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine at the time of the crash, court records show.

Calo, 39, is at the Chippewa Correctional Facility in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  The soonest he can be considered for release is in 2037.

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