By Marcia Moore
MIDDLEBURG — Family of a young Sunbury man killed in a January car crash asked a Snyder County Court judge for leniency Tuesday in sentencing the 22-year-old woman who admitted causing the deadly accident as she got high on dust remover.
“She needs to have a productive life,” Joe Snyder said before Jessica M. Curry, of 157 Awl St., Sunbury was sentenced for homicide by vehicle and related charges in the Jan. 17 crash that killed his godson, Jason J. Noll, 20, of Sunbury.
The family was pleased when President Judge Harold F. Woelfel Jr. rejected the commonwealth’s request for a state prison sentence of up to seven years and imposed a county jail term of less than two years.
“It will mean Jason didn’t die in vain. It’s one loss versus two,” Snyder said after the hearing.
Best friends Curry and Noll were traveling together along Routes 11-15 in Shamokin Dam when Curry swerved into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle head-on driven by Cynthia Scheib, 56, of Herndon.
Noll was killed and Scheib suffered severe injuries in the crash.
Authorities found several cans of dust remover in Curry’s car and she admitted she had been “huffing,” or inhaling, just prior to the accident.
In September, she pleaded guilty to homicide by motor vehicle, use of illegal solvents, two counts of driving on the wrong side of the road and a seat belt violation.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Hudock asked for the maximum sentence of 12 months to seven years in state prison.
But after hearing testimony from Noll’s mother and other relatives, as well as a psychotherapist called by defense attorney John McLaughlin, of Danville, President Judge Harold F. Woelfel Jr. sentenced Curry to 11 months to 23 1/2 months in Snyder County Prison.
Woelfel told her the lighter sentence was a direct result of the victim’s family’s comments.
New Jersey psychotherapist, Nicole Bistis, and McLaughlin described how Curry would get high with her mother, who’s now in an out-of-state court-ordered drug treatment facility battling a lifelong addiction.
They said Curry is remorseful and depressed about her friend’s death and is willing to get treatment.
Noll’s mother, Karen Shifflette, cried openly as Snyder read aloud a letter she wrote about the “indescribable” pain of losing a son and urging Curry to “make the right choices” from now on.
“Forgiveness is there from the family, if it is asked,” Snyder told the court as Curry sat crying a few feet away.
He said Noll was a compassionate young man who wanted his friend to get better.
“Jason always reached out to people. He would not want Jessica harmed,” Snyder said, asking Woelfel to give Curry a chance to turn her life around.
Hudock requested a state prison term, saying it reflected the seriousness of the crime and would give Curry more drug treatment options.
But Woelfel said he’d rather keep Curry under the supervision of county probation officials.
“Hopefully, Jason will be in your mind for a long, long time,” he told her.
In addition to the county jail term, Curry will serve six years of probation, was ordered to abstain from alcohol, enroll in a drug and alcohol treatment program, pay a $70 fine and $3,000 in restitution to the state victim’s compensation assistance program.
“I don’t think she got a break. She’s going to serve time,” Snyder said.
Before sentencing was imposed, Curry tearfully expressed her sorrow.
“I’m really sorry,” she said. “I’m not a bad person. I just made a mistake.”
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