17-Year Term for Diver Kimball : ‘Must Be Punished’ for Drunk Driving, Deaths, Judge Says

Olympic diver Bruce Kimball was sentenced to 17 years in prison today for killing two people and injuring four others when his car plowed into a group of teen-agers last August.

The 1984 Olympic silver medalist, who was legally drunk at the time, must serve an additional 15 years probation, ruled Hillsborough Circuit Judge Harry Lee Coe.

“You must be punished,” Coe told Kimball after the 3 1/2-hour sentencing hearing. “You must suffer the consequences of drunken driving, and we must stop it.”

Kimball had pleaded guilty to two drunken driving manslaughter and three great bodily injury counts earlier this month, and has been in jail since.

Today he changed the plea to no contest, a technical move aimed at making it easier for victims to recover damages from his automobile insurance company.

The 25-year-old Kimball, dressed in a blue jail uniform, stood impassively before the judge during the hearing, and did not visibly react when the sentence was read.

Coe, who also revoked Kimball’s license, noted that most prisoners serve only 20% to 30% of their sentences in any case, which could free Kimball in as little as three years.

Will Teach Alcohol Peril

Coe said that 15-year probation will include community work aimed at teaching young people the dangers of alcohol.

Prosecutors said Kimball--with a blood alcohol count of 0.2, or twice the legal limit in Florida--was doing 75 m.p.h. on a darkened road near Brandon just outside of Tampa on Aug. 1 when his car plowed into a group of teen-agers gathered at a site commonly known as “the spot.”

At the hearing, Assistant State Atty. John Skye said Kimball “was not just a little careless, he was not just a little negligent.”

The bloody accident came as Kimball was in training to qualify for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. He was released on bond and families of the victims went to the Olympic trials in Indianapolis to protest his quest for a place on the team. Kimball ultimately failed to qualify.

Kimball’s parents had tearfully asked for mercy for their son.