Hilbert Man Pleads To Homicide By Negligent Operation Of A Vehicle Charges

A Fond du Lac County courtroom was packed with
motorcyclists from throughout Wisconsin and Michigan during a plea hearing this
afternoon for a 26-year-old Hilbert man. Clinton Lovelace ran into a group of 12
motorcyclists on Highway 151 in the Town of Taycheedah on May 31st of last year.
Two of them died from their injuries and seven others were injured. Lovelace
pled “no contest” to two counts of Homicide by Negligent Use of a Vehicle and
entered Alford pleas to three counts of 2nd Degree Reckless Injury. The Alford
plea is essentially a guilty plea accompanied by a claim of innocence. It will
be up to Judge Gary Sharpe during a February 6th sentencing hearing, but
District Attorney Eric Toney says the plea agreement calls for up to 32 1/2
years of prison time to be followed by 20 to 25 years of extended supervision.
Toney calls it an appropriate recommendation. Lovelace admitted to ingesting Oxycodone before the accident, but a blood test wasn’t taken until 3 hours after
the crash and by that time he was being treated for his own injuries. The
motorcyclists from the Muskegon Motorcycle Gang were on their way back to
Michigan from a trip  to Milwaukee when the accident occurred.