Patton man sentenced to three prison terms

Scott Lynn Bragg, 33, a resident of Patton, Mo., was sentenced Monday to three prison terms of seven years each to run consecutively, the result of his guilty plea last month to two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of assault.

It was the maximum for the charges, which is what Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, asked Circuit Judge William Syler to issue.

On Aug. 13, 2002, a drunken Bragg was driving at speeds of up to 119 miles per hour when he left the roadway and flipped 118 feet in the air. Two passengers, Carl Scott Ford and Tracie Diane Ford, were killed. Carla Jo McNelly and Bragg were seriously injured.

Swingle said the victims' families requested the maximum penalty for Bragg. He added that Bragg's case was as serious as a drunken-driving crime can get.

He thanked accident reconstruction team members Jack Wimp and Kevin Eudy of the Cape Girardeau Police Department and T.G. Pulley and K.W. Malugen of the Missouri State Highway Patrol's major crash investigation unit for their help in making the case.