Guilty plea in fatal car-pedestrian case

A 22-year-old man who hit and killed a pedestrian in Moose Lake in March admitted Wednesday he was driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs when the crash occurred.

Brent James Keranen, of Pengilly, Minnesota, pleaded guilty to one count of felony criminal vehicular homicide while under the influence of cannabis/hemp edible products. Under the terms of a plea agreement with the prosecution, three other charges of felony criminal vehicular homicide will be dropped.

Sentencing is scheduled for December, and defense attorney David Keegan said he intends to ask for probation instead of imprisonment. There is no sentencing agreement as part of the plea agreement.

During the hearing, assistant Carlton County attorney Michael Boese questioned Keranen about the crash and what he was doing the night before and that morning. Keranen admitted to drinking and taking cocaine the night before. A blood sample sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension showed his blood alcohol content at 0.054 — below the 0.08 legal limit to operate a vehicle — but also revealed methamphetamine and cocaine, plus delta 8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC from hemp), and delta 9 (THC from the cannabis) chemicals in his blood. The THC is what gives the user a high.

Keranen admitted Wednesday that driving in his condition was negligent.

According to the criminal complaint, Keranen had been drinking late into the night with friends Wednesday, March 20, after working “a lot of hours” in the Twin Cities area that week. He was still tired and allegedly buzzed when he started to make his way north to his hometown in Pengilly, near Hibbing.

He was so out of it that he fell asleep and grazed a Minnesota State Patrol trooper’s vehicle while leaving the metro area that morning. He was pulled over and received a citation. The trooper checked his blood alcohol level: it was at 0.066, under the 0.08 legal limit. Keranen was determined to continue driving, pulling over for an energy drink and continuing his way north.

It was just after 2 p.m. March 21 that Keranen struck and killed 61-year-old Justin McNeil, who was walking back from the Dollar General store at the intersection of Minnesota Highway 73 and Jon Brown Drive to his home across the highway at Lake Shore Manor Apartments.

In contrast to the criminal complaint, in court Keranen said he fell asleep and his car left the road. He originally told police that a song he liked came on the radio and he began to play “air guitar” when his vehicle’s air bags deployed.

Tire tracks showed the car had veered right out of the driving lane, striking McNeil, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

McNeil’s neighbor, John Rudd, told the Pine Knot News he was disappointed to hear Keranen’s attorney was going to ask for a reduced sentence.

Rudd said McNeil’s only son told him his grandmother (McNeil’s elderly mother) died within two weeks of her son’s death.

“It didn’t have to happen,” Rudd said, describing McNeil as a nice guy who enjoyed gardening and puttering on his car. Rudd had loaned him $20 to buy cigarettes that morning and speculated that was the reason for the trip to Dollar General, an easy walking distance from McNeil’s apartment.

In court, Boese asked Keranen when law enforcement arrived at the scene.

“The second I got out of the car, a prison guard was running at me while his wife was taking care of [McNeil],” Keranen said.

It was shift change at the nearby Moose Lake Correctional Facility, Rudd said, adding that at least six prison employees stopped and rendered aid at the scene.

“They were literally driving out of the parking lot when it happened,” Rudd said, praising their response.

Judge Rebekka Stumme set the sentencing hearing for Dec. 2; the maximum sentence according to state law is 10 years and/or $20,000.