An Anne Arundel man admitted to drinking and driving a car resulting in a crash that killed three kidney dialysis patients on their way to treatment in December 2006.
Fontaine Pridgett, 47, of Cape St. Claire, pleaded guilty to three counts of homicide by motor vehicle while intoxicated as part of a plea agreement Thursday in Anne Arundel Circuit Court.
As part of the agreement, prosecutors dropped the more serious charges of vehicular manslaughter in the case before Judge Paul Hackner.
“We had absolutely no blood alcohol content tests or blood tests to see if drugs were in [Pridgett?s] system,” said Kristin Riggin, spokeswoman for the State?s Attorney?s Office.
“We had to move forward without any forensic evidence.”
Prosecutors chose not to go to trial, because police initially thought his passenger, Jason Robert Dehn, 25, of Annapolis, was the one driving.
Police only administered a blood alcohol test on Dehn, because the driver of the dialysis van, Maurice Williams, told police Dehn was behind the wheel of the 1993 Mercedes-Benz 300TE.
The Mercedes, which had no brakes, careened down Jennifer Road about 5:30 a.m. Dec. 30 making an uncontrolled right-hand turn and striking the van almost head on, according to court documents.
Pridgett and Dehn had been drinking heavily and doing crack cocaine since the previous night, according to court documents.
Anne Arundel police charged Dehn with vehicular manslaughter, but prosecutors dropped the charges when DNA evidence from the driver?s air bag proved Pridgett was driving the car.
The passengers who died were: Terry Wright Sr., 56, of Parole; and Mary Agnes Davis, 48, and Mary Rawlings, 65, both of Annapolis.
Pridgett is incarcerated at the Jennifer Road Detention Center on $750,000 bond.
