A Columbia Falls man has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while under the influence seven months after he crashed head-on into another vehicle on the North Fork Road, killing a 68-year-old man from Nebraska.
Matthew Michael Hollo, 23, appeared in Flathead County District Court on Jan. 8 at a change of plea hearing.
According to court documents, Hollo was drunk when he drove his Dodge Ram truck head-on into Timothy R. Fangman’s Toyota Land Cruiser shortly before 3 p.m. on June 6, 2015. Fangman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hollo told law enforcement that Fangman had been driving in his lane of traffic so he swerved into the other lane to avoid him just as Fangman did the same. But Hollo’s story did not match up with the evidence at the scene, which indicated Hollo was driving over the speed limit.
Hollo was taken to an area hospital where a blood test found his blood alcohol level was .143 shortly after the accident, according to court records. Hollo was charged with vehicular homicide while under the influence two months later and pleaded not guilty soon after.
In a plea deal signed in December, Hollo agreed to plead guilty. In exchange for the guilty plea, the state will recommend that the court impose a 30-year sentence to the Montana State Prison with 20 years suspended.
Hollo will be sentenced on April 5 at 9 a.m.