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.

Reader Comments

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31. LOL "I wonder if he will break out" hahahaha!!!

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

32. fair sentence, while it will never bring the young man back, i do believe that maybe this will deter celebrities as well as "regular" citizens to THINK before you get behind the wheel. if you have had too much, call a cab. better yet, a designated driver BEFORE you get hammered is a REALLY good idea.

Posted at 1:51PM on Oct 31st 2007 by k.d.

33. He's going to do significant time for an accident - not premeditated murder. And really, for once, it was nice to see someone take responsibility and be genuinely remorseful. Nobody in this country ever apologizes. If he were the average person, he would have taken the case to trial, gone to jail and still never said a word to the families. I think in that regard, he's shown that he will learn from this. He'll do his time and hopefully be a productive member of society who can help educate others with regard to the effects of drugs and alcohol. Violent rapists get less time than that and it has nothing to do with celebrity. And of course it wasn't their fault, but what on earth were those kids doing getting into the car with a stranger? It's not like he mowed down a family crossing the street. These kids did not know this guy and got in the car with him. It's tragic for everyone.

Posted at 1:51PM on Oct 31st 2007 by c

34. What a wonderful difference in the Hollywood types! This is someone who has taken responsibility for his actions and is willing to face whatever consequences were handed down to him.

Yes, what he did was wrong. But from the get go, he has stepped up to the plate and behaved like a man. He admitted his fault, pled guilty and took it like a man. He appears to be truly remorseful for his actions. At no time did he try to push the responsibility of his actions off on anyone or anything! Not once did he say he did not know what he was doing because he was drunk/on drugs. To do so would have been to failure to take responsibility for his actions.

To me he is a bigger man than Mel Gibson! When Lane gets out of prison and resumes his acting career I will be the first in line to see whatever he appears in.

As for Mel Gibson - not a chance in he!! will I ever see anything he appears in, directs or produces. I have no respect for this man. Same goes for several other actors/actresses who behave so badly but think it is ok to do so. They depend on their fanbase for their livelyhood. I will not contribute.

All you Hollywood spoiled brats, sit up and take notice! This is how you SHOULD behave in the aftermath of your errors!!!

Posted at 1:53PM on Oct 31st 2007 by sanityrules

35. The people in California are insane , it's not just the celebs. You let all these people go, who commit crimes! Unreal! The streets are unsafe, you have murdering celebs walking around, drunk drivers all over the place, your all too brain dead to do anything about it! Mind boggling!

Posted at 1:54PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Lee

36. I have a real problem with the people that feel the sentence is not enough. Not one of their so called friends has seen fit to take even the smallest bit of resposibility for thier own actions that contributed to this horrible situation. they all seem to feel its fine for the drunk guy that they found already drunk, had him buy them liquor for thier party and then when the liqour ran out they sent the already drunk person to the store for more booze with three friends in the car. The drunk guy shouldnt be the one being punished! It should be the manipulative teenagers that pulled this stunt that should be taking responsibility for thier actions. But in this day in age its all about making sure the kids get what they want reguardless of the outcome.
And just for those idiots that want to say the kid that died was hero... Im sorry but It is not heroic to see that your friends have conned someone who is already impared to go buy liquor, decide it might be dangerous for them and then hop in the car to join them! thats not heroism, its stupidity.

So What happened to the saying friends dont let friends drive drunk? I guess it didnt matter to them since Lane Garrison was just a drunk fool they found at the grocery store so they didnt care if he got killed driving drunk!

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

37. 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

38. The problem is not with the fact that he is a celebrity, it is with the law. Vehicular homicide is not considered premeditated, or intentional, so it's a manslaughter offense, which carries less prison time than an initentionl homicide. In NY the law only chaged after a hit and run driver who was drunk killed a 6 year old boy and his mom took on the state legislature. Instead of bitching about it on TMZ, call your local legislator and demand a review of these laws. Especially considering the upcoming elections next week and in 2008!

Posted at 2:32PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Mia1013

39. 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

40. 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

41. 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

42. I Hope he enjoys being GWIP.... Gay While in Prision!

Posted at 3:31PM on Oct 31st 2007 by Justin

43. 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

44. 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

45. 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

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