Celebrity Justice
Lane Garrison Sentenced to Prison

A judge has sentenced "Prison Break" star Lane Garrison to a total of forty months -- nearly four years -- in state prison for the drunk driving crash that caused the death of 17-year-old Vahagn Setian.


As he sentenced him, Judge Elden Fox told Lane he thought he was a human being who made a very bad mistake -- and that he committed a crime and devastated three families.


Fox told Garrison, "I think you are truly remorseful," but sentenced him to prison because "the public needs to know crimes like this need to be punished and, unfortunately, you have to be the messenger." The sentence was based on Garrison's lack of prior criminal history and that he admitted responsibility, pleaded guilty right away and has offered the families financial assistance.

Before sentencing, a highly emotional Garrison told the victims' families he was "genuinely remorseful" and "sickened" by his behavior that night.

Garrison he will get credit for the 91 days he has already served. That, combined with California's Work Time/Good Time early release program, means he will likely be in state prison for about 20 months.

He must also pay close to $300,000 to the Setian family and to the two girls who were in the car.

Lane was quiet after the sentence was handed down and was taken away in handcuffs.

Filed under: Celebrity Justice, TV

Reader Comments

(Page 3 of 16)Previous 15 Comments | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

31. daughter, ahem... was'nt that a guy who died?

Posted at 1:55PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Anna

32. Who's the genius who figured out that forty months is nearly 4 years? 40 months is about as close to 4 years as today is to the 4th of July, '08. As I recall, 40 months is less than prosecutors had petitioned the court for and way less than the 6-year maximum potential sentence. Some semblance of justice was served here, but in reality there are no real winners in this sad, tragic story. RIP Vahagn.

Posted at 1:56PM on Oct 31st 2007 by skeelo

33. With credit for time served and 1/3rd off for good behavior this guy will be out of jail long before the dead boy's mother has finished going through 1 school year without him, 1 homecoming dance he wont attend, 1 soccer season he wont play, 1 set of family birthdays he wont attend. What a ridiculously low sentence.

Posted at 1:57PM on Oct 31st 2007 by skeptic

34. I don't understand you people who are saying how unfair this sentence is.... He KILLED someone! He's a twenty seven-year-old man who allowed three MINORS to get into his car even though he was under the influence!

You people are practically screaming for Britney Spears' head because she's a bad mom (and I don't disagree with you) but you have all the sympathy in the world for this man simply because you think he really feels bad about what happened??

First of all, he's an actor - who knows how he really feels - but more importantly, guilt is not a legal punishment! How bad do you think the parents of that young man are going to feel every day for the rest of their lives because their son was taken at the age of 17? How much pain and suffering did those teenage girls endure because of Lane Garrison's immature and illegal decision to drive??

The bottom line is that he broke the law and someone died as a result of his criminal negligence. Maybe he does feel genuine remorse for his actions. If so, good! Hopefully he'll learn from his mistake and never make it again - but he still deserves the prison time.

Posted at 1:58PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Kitty

35. I'm actually surprised that he was sentenced to 40 months. Usually these celebs don't get more than a slap on the wrist. However,it hardly seems like justice for the loss of a young life and the lifetime of suffering for the family of the dead boy. Very sad all the way around.

Posted at 1:58PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Sadie

36. I think it's reasonable for him. Why do I think that? Because he handled this like a man. He did not make excuses and is remorseful. I respect that. Having 2-4 years of your life in jail is punishment, which he deserves for his stupid mistake. My heart goes out to all the families involved. It doesn't bring back their child, but I hope they can look at Garrison's remorse and actions AFTER the crash to give him some forgiveness.

Posted at 1:59PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Brit

37. Not surprised at all, the guys always take it up the ass and get hard time while in every case the women say some hole hurts and are depressed and get 1 hour or a few days in jail.
Heck women can kill kids or shoot and kill the husband in the back and get no jail time as they were sick and get away with murder including 1,000'nds of babies every year.

Posted at 2:00PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Hidetheweine

38. Credit for time served and mandatory good behavior time = 20 months. Lame. It should be 10 times that.

Posted at 2:01PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Scott

39. I would like to stand before the parents of these teens and ask them why they were not being a responsible parent. There is no way in he!! my child would 1) be at a party where alcohol was being served, 2) would be running with a wild crown, 3) would have been drilled to not get in a car with strangers or someone who is driving and was drunk/on drugs (believe you me, when I set a rule, my daughter listens cause she knows the consequences for breaking the rules is not pleasant).

Boggles the mind that parents allow their kids such behavior or are so out of touch with what their child is doing they haven't a clue what is going on in their lives.

This is what our society has come to. And for all you who will come down hard on me, you obviously think what these teens did is the norm - well, it may well be. But that does not make it right.

Posted at 2:04PM on Oct 31st 2007 by sanityrules

40.

To # 4 Delia

That was 40 months, not "less than 1 month for each".

That's nearly 4 years.

Posted at 2:04PM on Oct 31st 2007 by OCD

41. This guy is getting more than the guy who killed my dad in a car wreck and the guy wasn't even from the USA. He was a 17 year old kid driving 70 miles an hour and hit my parents head on. He got probation and didn't even serve one day in jail. This to me was a outrage in the justice system. The guy was even sober while driving and had nothing to take as far as filing a law suit against. The justice system makes me sick. I think Lane is remorseful and has been from day one. He is getting more time than that kid that wasn't even an american got for killing my dad.

Posted at 2:04PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Monica

42. You feel bad for him with 40 months?????? WHAT IF HE KILLED YOUR DAUGHTER OR WIFE?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And paying only $300K ????? He got off E A S Y !!!!!!!! The sentance is a joke. Sorry or not, like all of us, he was exposed to the warnings and dangers of DUI EVERY day! He lived the "It won't happen to me" lifestyle (like a careless teenager... and guess what? IT DID! Forget Lindsay and Paris and Britney. They haven't killed anyone (yet) and that is the differnece here. This guy did! The judge was way to easy. If it had been my daughter, I would be going after blood, wheter is a celeb or not!!!!! Those of you siding with him are truly sickening. Next up ... Brandi ... Are we gonna feel bad for her too????

Posted at 2:04PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Ed

43. I wonder what he will do when he get's out of jail. I'm sure his acting days are over........

Posted at 2:07PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Ziggy

44. And props to the people who circulated that petition asking for him to get the maximum sentence!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted at 2:08PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Emily

45.

To #40 Sanityrules:

What makes you think that their parents didn't tell them not to drink, not to drive, not to get in the car with someone who had?

Kids that age don't listen!

I'll bet you can't find one responsible parent who hasn't told their children that. And I'll bet (if we all would be honest) that there are more than a few of us right here still walking around that DID do what they told us not to, also.

We're still walking around, but it's not because we were smarter than Lane Garrison or those kids.

It's because we were lucky. That's it.

Posted at 2:10PM on Oct 31st 2007 by OCD

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