The Florida man held for causing the September crash that killed three members of Tuscola County’s Putnam family was sentenced Tuesday, December 9, to time in jail and to pay fines and costs.
Pavel B. Shchukin, the Florida man accused of failing to stop and thus causing the accident, had been charged with three counts of moving violation causing death, which carries a one-year maximum sentence, and five counts of moving violation causing serious impairment of a body function, which carries a 93-day maximum sentence.
However, a plea with the Tuscola County Prosecutor’s Office saw the 55-year-old pleading no contest to the three moving violation causing death charges, while the remaining five charges were dropped. While it is not clear if the terms will run concurrently or consecutively, District Court Judge Jason Bitzer sentenced Shchukin to one year in jail for each charge, as well as ordered him to pay a total of $1,425 in associated fines and court costs.
The charges stem from a tragedy on Friday, September 26, when Shchukin’s semi-truck ran a stop sign at the Ellington Township intersection of Hurds Corner and Deckerville Roads and collided with the Putnam family Jeep. In addition to injuring five people, the crash also killed Putnam family patriarch Bill, his wife Barb, and their daughter-in-law Megan.
