East Texan receives 20-year sentence for DWI fatal
Posted/updated on: November 23, 2024 at 1:07 am
SMITH COUNTY – A Smith County man was given a 20 year prison sentence on Friday after pleading not guilty to a 2023 charge of intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle. According to our news partner KETK, 23-year-old William Chaplinski of Big Sandy, was found guilty in Sept. 2023 fatal head-on crash.
Crash reports from the DPS said Chaplinski crossed the center line in a Nissan Titan in attempts to pass another vehicle when he collided into a Kia Sportage head-on. The driver of the Kia, 42-year-old Harry Collins, III of Tyler, was pronounced dead at the scene. Chaplinski was booked into the Smith County Jail on Sept. 9, 2023 after authorities said he was “determined to be intoxicated at the time of the crash.”
A year later,Chaplinski entered a not guilty plea with the court, for the intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle charge and was found guilty. He will now serve a 20-year sentence in state prison.
