Twin Cities drunken-driving killer gets 4-year sentence for probation violation

"I am truly sorry," Jason Reese told Jon Niemann's family about the fatal drunken-driving crash in 2003.

By ROCHELLE OLSON, Star Tribune

Last update: January 12, 2009 - 11:18 PM

The young man who killed an off-duty Scott County sheriff's deputy five years ago in a drunken-driving crash was handcuffed and led from a Hennepin County courtroom on Monday for a probation violation that earned him a four-year prison sentence.

Jason Reese, formerly of Albertville, spent nearly a year in jail in Nebraska after he was caught growing marijuana in his home there. The operation was a violation of his probation for the crash that killed deputy Jon Niemann of Prior Lake on Interstate 494 near Plymouth.

Reese was given a week out of custody to get his life in order before the sentence was imposed. He had agreed to the execution of the sentence by District Judge Warren Sagstuen rather than requiring a hearing.

Wearing a light blue, long-sleeved polo shirt, Reese turned to face the many members of Niemann's family in the courtroom and said, "I do want you all to know there's not a day that goes by you're not in my thoughts and prayers."

Reese said that if he could change that day, he would. "I am truly sorry," he said. His own father, too, was in the courtroom and crying.

Niemann's widow, Laurie Niemann-Pederson, and their sons Matt and Nick were in the courtroom Monday but did not speak to the court. Niemann's mother and sister did.

Allie Niemann addressed Reese directly, something that usually is not allowed at sentencing. "I have practiced for five years to forgive you, and over time it has worked," she said.

She said she feels compassion for Reese and his family and hopes that he will find a way to nurture the goodness inside himself, to feed his soul with love and forgiveness.

Jon Niemann's sister, Jennifer Willette, said, "I'm not angry, I'm just sad at the lost opportunities."

She decried a criminal justice system that treats drunken driving with a slap on the wrist even though more than four times as many people are killed annually by drinking and driving than were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Reese certainly lost opportunities.

Initially he was sentenced to eight months in jail and a lengthy probation, which he violated. The Niemann family also cut him a break. If he graduated from an institution of higher learning, participated in drunken-driving panels and hit other benchmarks, he could lower the $1 million civil judgment against him by 90 percent.

On Dec. 30, 2003, Reese, 22 at the time, was drunk and crashed his car into oncoming traffic, hitting a pickup truck driven by Niemann. Niemann, who was 37, died at the scene.

Reese could be released from prison after serving three years if he behaves. He also gets credit for more than a year he already has served.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

Recent Local + Metro stories

From Lake Itasca to New Orleans - January 12, 2009

From Lake Itasca to New Orleans - The modern-day Huck Finn odyssey stars two young documentarians with a digital camera, a loose itinerary and a dream. More