ALBANY, Ore. – A 45-year-old Albany man was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison for hitting and killing an 85-year-old pedestrian while intoxicated, according to Linn County Court records.
Court documents show that James Lee Howe was sentenced on Aug. 25 to 240 months in prison with a lifetime revocation of his driver’s license. On Aug. 7, Howe was found guilty of first-degree manslaughter and driving under the influence of intoxicants for a September 2023 vehicle versus pedestrian crash that killed Percy Kropf, according to court records.
According to the Albany Police Department, police and fire officials responded at 9:15 a.m. on September 8, 2023 to a vehicle versus pedestrian crash at the intersection of Southeast Waverly Drive and 47th Avenue. A white 2009 Toyota Camry driven by Howe was traveling northbound on Waverly Drive when it left its lane of travel, went up over the right curb and continued directly into a crosswalk at the 47th Avenue intersection, police said. Albany police officials said that Howe’s Toyota struck Percy Kropf, 85, of Albany as he walked south on Waverly Drive after crossing 47th Avenue and came to a stop after hitting the Mennonite Village entrance sign head on. Kropf was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis where he later died from his injuries, police said…