Teenager Gets One Month Jail Sentence for Fatal Crash

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) — A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to a month in jail for causing a crash that killed a North Mankato couple.

Christopher Schneider pleaded guilty to careless driving in the July 2015 crash that killed 75-year-old Kathy Ohman and 74-year-old Rod Ebert. The two had left a dance performance at the Blue Earth County Fair and were headed home when Schneider blew through a stop sign and crashed into their vehicle.

The Free Press reports Schneider was driving without a license. He says he looked down to put out his cigarette just before the crash. Prosecutors say the case did not meet the threshold for felony charges.

A Blue Earth County District Court judge on Monday also ordered Schneider to deliver 30 community presentations to groups about distracted driving and serve a year of probation.