Driver Who Killed 27 Gets 16-Year Term : Drunkenness: Defense attorneys’ plan for probation is rejected by Kentucky judge.

A man convicted of killing 27 people in the nation’s worst drunk-driving accident was sentenced Friday to 16 years in prison.

Carroll County Circuit Judge Charles Satterwhite denied a defense motion to place Larry Mahoney on probation, and instead imposed the sentence recommended by the jury that convicted the 36-year-old chemical-plant worker Dec. 21.

Satterwhite said the community would not stand for probation and that punishment must be strong for such a serious crime.

One survivor of the crash, 18-year-old Tammy Darnell, said Mahoney should have been sent to prison for life.

“Sixteen years does not take the place of the friends I lost,” she said.

Mahoney was driving the wrong direction on Interstate 71 on May 14, 1988, when he crashed into the front of a school bus packed with teen-agers on a church outing. Twenty-four teen-agers and three adults died in the fiery crash.

Mahoney was convicted of 27 counts each of second-degree manslaughter and first-degree wanton endangerment, 12 counts of first-degree assault, 14 of second-degree wanton endangerment and one of drunk driving.

The recommended sentence totaled 611 years, but the jury said the terms should run concurrently. That effectively gave Mahoney 16 years. He is classified as a violent offender under Kentucky law and must serve at least half of his sentence before being considered for parole.

Defense attorney William Summers, one of Mahoney’s three attorneys, urged Satterwhite to make something positive out of the tragedy. The defense recommended a probation plan under which Mahoney would have lectured to schoolchildren about the dangers of drunk driving, served volunteer time in hospital emergency wards, and spent one year in a work-release program.

“Judge, we must do as much good with this as we possibly can. His punishment has already been death. He already has been given a life sentence,” Summers said, referring to Mahoney’s suffering since the crash.

Prosecutor Paul Richwalsky Jr. of the state attorney general’s office opposed probation.

“He alone is responsible. He alone brought us to this place today,” Richwalsky said. “Regardless of statements the defense would make, it’s time for punishment.”

Russell Baldani, another of Mahoney’s attorneys, had said earlier that Satterwhite’s decision would be appealed.

During testimony, jurors learned that Mahoney was upset over financial problems brought on by expensive medical bills for his daughter, who suffers from a spinal birth defect. He spent most of the day of the crash visiting friends and drinking beer at several taverns, according to testimony.

He testified that he only occasionally drank beer and abhorred hard liquor. He said he did not remember drinking hard liquor at a party later that evening.

He said he had no recollection of getting into his pickup and driving the wrong way on the interstate.

The collision punctured the gas tank of the bus, sending a stream of flaming gasoline into the passenger compartment.

The 27 deaths were attributed to smoke inhalation, but Mahoney’s attorneys contended that toxic smoke emitted from the plastic seats poisoned the passengers.

When Mahoney took the stand, he apologized for the tragedy.

Richwalsky said earlier in the week that he did not expect Friday’s hearing to be the last of the Mahoney case.

“It’s not over and done with,” he said. “I’m sure there will be an appeal and so we change gears and go into another arena.”