Man to serve 4 months for crash

STAUNTON — A judge sentenced a Staunton man to four months in prison Thursday for a May 2008 crash on Route 340 that killed a 40-year-old mother of three.

Sentencing guidelines recommended a sentence of at least 10 months in prison for the involuntary DUI manslaughter charge on which a jury convicted Jeremy Rasnake in February.

“That [four-month] sentence, in the Commonwealth’s opinion, is way out of line,” Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Angela Landes argued Thursday.

Rasnake, 21, was twice convicted of reckless driving as a juvenile.

But Judge Victor V. Ludwig upheld the jury’s decision. Rasnake also had his driver’s license suspended indefinitely — after three years he can apply for a restricted license.

“I beg for your forgiveness and I’m still trying to forgive myself,” he said during sentencing Thursday.

Rasnake was driving a blue 1988 Ford Bronco north on Route 340 between Old White Hill Road and Kill Deer Lane on May 23 when, according to testimony, he fell asleep at the wheel, drifted across the center line and collided head-on with a silver 1994 Ford Thunderbird driven by Cheryl Lynn Sheaves, of Grottoes.

Sheaves died the next day at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.

Rasnake had faced a charge of aggravated involuntary DUI manslaughter, which could have meant a maximum of 20 years in prison. At issue in trial was the role of alcohol in the accident. The jury deliberated just over an hour before finding Rasnake guilty of the reduced charge of involuntary DUI manslaughter.

Defense attorney David O’Donnell said Rasnake was “clearly remorseful.”