Deadly Crash Suspect Pleads No Contest to DUI

Wakefield resident Dean Philbrick, was given the maximum punishment when he was sentenced on Monday for his involvement in the DUI crash that took the life of a URI student in February 2012.

Justice Melanie Wilk Thunberg sentenced Philbrick, 48, to 15 years, with seven to serve after he pleaded nolo contendere to DUI death resulting during a hearing at Washington County Superior Court. He was also sentenced to 10 years with seven to serve concurrently after entering the same plea to a charge of Driving to Endanger death resulting. He received the sentencing on the morning of his 48th birthday.

Philbrick was charged in connection with the fatal crash that killed his then Turtle Soup co-worker, 23-year-old Erica Knowles, who was a passenger in the back seat of his car. Knowles was a resident of South Kingstown and had been majoring in journalism and women's studies at URI.

According to documents filed by South Kingstown Police, he was drunk and attempting to go airborne on Torrey Road when he lost control of his Ford Taurus, crossed into the opposite lane of travel and struck both a telephone pole and a tree the morning of Feb. 15. Knowles died en route to the hospital. Philbrick and another passenger, then 29-year-old Rebecca Scott of Narragansett, were treated for injuries sustained in the crash.

Philbrick will be eligible for parole approximately a third of the way into his seven-year prison term. Upon release, his license will be suspended for five years and will be required to take part in alcohol counseling and pay a $5,000 fine.