A man hailing from Snohomish County, identified as an enrolled member of the Tulalip Tribes, has received a sentence that includes intermittent custody for a drunk driving crash from two years ago that claimed the life of a man, as detailed by the U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman's office. The decision, which was handed down in the Seattle U.S. District Court, will see Danny Lee Simpson, Jr., age 40, on probation for a total of three years, with a stipulation binding him to confinement for three days weekly during the first year, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
The incident in question unfolded after midnight on February 2, 2020, when Simpson, together with his wife and an acquaintance from the bar, ventured to his parent's gravel pit. The modification of his truck suitable for off-road use neglected the truck's braking system, a mistake not evident until it was too late. Following the truck stalling and overheating, Simpson made the fatal error of backing the vehicle over a 40-foot cliff in the dimly lit and treacherous terrain, an area he was familiar with but failed to navigate safely while under the influence, as per court documents.
In the courtroom, the prosecutors pressed for an 18-month custodial sentence, citing the irrevocable loss inflicted upon the victim's family. Still, the recommendation made by the United States Probation Office was a sentence of 28 months in custody. Neither proposal was ultimately the court's decision. Instead, Simpson's acknowledgement in a guilty plea last October of the foreseeability of the dangers he recklessly ignored was met with the current sentence.
The ramifications of Simpson's decision have echoed painfully within the victim's family. Through a heartbreaking speech to the court, the devastated mother of the deceased laid bare the rippling effects of her son's absence, elaborating on the shared loss of his presence in the growth of his own child. "Simpson ended the life of a man who will never be able to play catch with his son, go to activities at his son's school, or watch his son grow into manhood. Simpson selfishly took all this away from the victim, his son, and their family," the prosecutors highlighted in their statement to the court, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
An order has been made for Simpson to pay restitution to the victim's family, the sum of which remains to be decided. The case was the subject of a FBI and Tulalip Police Department investigation, which culminated in the ruling that the justice system has now delivered – albeit a decision less severe than what was initially pursued by the prosecutors.
