Judge Alper sentenced Vathana Chan to 20 years in prison with 5 of those years to be suspended if he demonstrates good behavior. She also sentenced him to 1,000 hours of community service once he is released. This community service involves speaking to students, church groups, etc., about what he did and his experiences because of it; she added that this will be to serve as a lasting memorial to Nathan.
Our family is very pleased with the sentence. All too often the law and society as a whole do not treat this crime as what it is: a violent act of homicide. Driving drunk and killing someone is not an accident. Someone chooses to be intoxicated and then makes another decision to get behind the wheel of a vehicle. It is important for a person who demonstrates such a negligent disregard for human life to be punished appropriately. Given the Commonwealth of Virginia's current guidelines regarding aggravated involuntary manslaughter, we feel Chan was justly sentenced.
Now it's time to make a sentence like this the norm for committing this crime, not the exception.
