Leon Reinbrecht sentenced to 3 years for fatal houseboat crash on Shuswap Lake
Reinbrecht killed Ken Brown and injured 8 people when he took his speedboat for a joyride in 2010
A B.C. Supreme Court judge in Kamloops, B.C., has sentenced Leon Reinbrecht to three years in prison for a fatal boat crash that killed one man and injured several people on a houseboat six years ago.
Reinbrecht, 54, was convicted on one count each of criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a lengthy trial last year.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Donegan said Reinbrecht made "terrible decisions that had catastrophic consequences on many people."
"There was evidence in this case of extreme behaviour, bravado and machismo," she said.
In 2010, after the Canada Day fireworks, Reinbreicht went on Shuswap Lake for a joyride in his speedboat. He'd been drinking and smoking marijuana.
The court heard Reinbrecht was zig-zagging along the shoreline when he slammed his speedboat into a slow-moving houseboat.
The impact killed Ken Brown, 54, and injured eight other people.
The court heard how Reinbrecht feels remorseful for what he did, but the victim's sister, Patti Oliver, said he never expressed that to her family, and she feels he's never accepted responsibility for all the grief he has caused.
"He made a lot of poor choices and bad judgment and it was really stupid," she said. "He needs to spends some time in jail and look at his character and change things."
The judge also prohibited Reinbrecht from owning a boat for five years following his time in prison.