Driver in Boat Crash Fatal to 5 Gets 3 Years

Virl H. Earles, who crashed a powerboat into a concrete buoy in Anaheim Bay two years ago in an accident that killed five passengers, was sentenced Friday to three years in state prison.

Earles, 31, fought back tears with his head bowed as Orange County Superior Court Judge Jean H. Rheinheimer said, “I agree with the mother of one of the victims, who said that Virl Earles was an accident waiting to happen.”

The judge recited Earles’ record of arrests since 1976--two for public drunkenness, three for reckless driving, four for speeding, one for driving under the influence and two for minor burglaries 10 years ago--and several probation violations.

‘Conscious Disregard’

“Mr. Earles’ record shows a decade of conscious disregard for the safety of others,” the judge said.

Earles had a high blood-alcohol content and was driving at least five times the speed limit at the time of the crash Oct. 28, 1984.

While the judge explained her decision, family members sat in the back of the courtroom timing contractions for Earles’ wife, Lori, who went into labor with the couple’s first child shortly before the hearing .

Under Rheinheimer’s order, Earles does not have to begin serving the sentence until Dec. 12, giving him time to file an appeal and allowing him to take his wife to the hospital for the delivery of the baby.

Earles, a Seal Beach native who recently moved to Westminster, was convicted at his second trial three months ago of five counts of involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of the five young people aboard the boat he was driving. The first trial ended in a hung jury, deadlocked 9-3 in favor of acquitting him.

Earles was among four people injured in the accident. He underwent a colostomy and faces further surgery.