A Lehighton man received a combined sentence of more than eight years in prison Tuesday for killing a White Haven motorist in a drunken-driving crash on Route 940 in 2023 and for a separate drug-related DUI from weeks before the deadly collision.

Carbon County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Matika sentenced Michael George Hotton, 63, to 8 to 16 years in state prison on a charge of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence in the death of Raymond Dugan, 79. He also imposed a consecutive sentence of 90 days to 5 years on a DUI controlled substance conviction from a July 23, 2023, arrest; about seven weeks before the fatal head-on crash.

Hotton entered a negotiated guilty plea May 1 to homicide by vehicle while DUI, a first-degree felony. Seven additional charges — including aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI, homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter — were dismissed as part of the agreement.

Hotton received credit for 860 days served in the homicide case and 90 days in the DUI controlled substance case.

As conditions of the homicide sentence, Hotton must submit to a blood sample at the Carbon County Correctional Facility, complete 200 hours of community service and have no contact with Dugan’s family for the duration of his supervision. Under the drug DUI case, he must enter and successfully complete inpatient rehabilitation, complete the Alcohol Highway Safety Program, fulfill all requirements of Act 122-90 and serve an 18-month driver’s license suspension.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Kidder Township Police Patrolman Christopher Ritter, the crash occurred at 4:31 p.m. on Sept. 14, 2023, on Route 940 near Francis E. Walter Dam Road in Kidder Township.

Hotton’s white Chevrolet Blazer struck Dugan’s silver Suzuki SX4 head-on, leaving both drivers entrapped with severe injuries. Rescue personnel extricated both men and transported them to Geisinger-Wyoming Valley Hospital in Wilkes-Barre, where Dugan was pronounced dead at 5:50 p.m.

When Ritter interviewed Hotton at the hospital later that evening, Hotton said he could not remember what had happened and did not remember where he was going. He acknowledged consuming two alcoholic slushy drinks in the morning and said he had stopped drinking around noon. He also said he was a marijuana user but had not smoked in two weeks.

Ritter noted that Hotton had slurred speech, unusually constricted pupils and repeatedly ground his teeth and moved his jaw side to side. Blood specimens obtained by search warrant from the hospital showed Hotton’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.196% — more than twice Pennsylvania’s legal limit of 0.08%.

Examination of the airbag control module from Hotton’s Blazer determined the vehicle was traveling about 52 mph at the time of impact. There was no recorded attempt to apply the brakes before the collision, according to Ritter’s affidavit.

In a follow-up interview on Oct. 9, 2023, Hotton told police he had gone to a park near his home in Carbondale around lunchtime, drank an alcoholic slushy purchased at a nearby convenience store, returned home, changed clothes and began driving to Lehighton to see his girlfriend. He said he “probably stopped and got a slushy for the ride to Lehighton.”