Originally published January 23, 2010 at 7:46 PM | Page modified January 23, 2010 at 7:46 PM

60-month sentence for texting fatality

In what's believed to be Washington's first vehicular-homicide conviction due to text-messaging, Antonio Cellestine was sentenced Friday to 60 months in prison in a plea agreement.

Phone records indicate Cellestine, 18, was texting his girlfriend at the time his car hit and killed Gordon Patterson, 50, a high-school teacher, on Sept. 15.

"This was no accident," said Clark County Superior Court Judge Roger Bennett.

Phone records showed Cellestine had received and sent numerous text messages leading up to and during the crash, said Deputy Prosecutor Jim David.

Patterson was riding his bicycle home from school when Cellestine's car trailed into the bike lane and struck him from behind. Cellestine then sped away. He was arrested the next day.

Seattle Times news services

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