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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Driver Gets Term In Fatal Accident

From Staff And Wire Reports

A Fort Hall man who caused a traffic accident that killed a 9-year-old girl has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill also sentenced Franklin Chippewa Sr., to five years of supervised release, $118,000 in restitution and $500 court costs on Monday.

Chippewa, 46, was found guilty by a federal jury in February of second-degree murder, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, assault to a minor child and two counts of being a felon in possession of firearms.

U.S. Attorney Betty Richardson said Chippewa was driving a pickup on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation last July 5 when he broadsided a van driven by Cathy Coby, 33, also of Fort Hall.

Her daughter Keanna was killed and Coby and her 14-year-old daughter, Shantele, were injured in the crash at the intersection of U.S. Highway 91 and Truchot Road.