...for fatal OWI sentencing

By Joe Gerrety, Journal and Courier

A Carroll County judge heard about four hours of emotional testimony Monday from the defendant and the family of the young man he killed while driving drunk last July 4.

Nicholas Keeler, 24, of rural Camden faces a minimum of six years and up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced Feb. 5 by Judge Joseph Carey of Carroll Circuit Court.

Keeler had a blood-alcohol content of 0.17 percent, more than twice the legal limit for driving in Indiana, when he drove left of center and caused a fiery crash that killed Adam J. Levon, 19, on Indiana 29 in eastern Carroll County.

Levon's parents, Joel and Kathryn Levon, and his sister, Whitney, argued for the maximum sentence, noting that Keeler had a prior conviction for drunken driving and was eligible to be charged as a habitual substance offender.

"This is not about hate or vengeance toward Nicholas," Whitney Levon said afterward. "This is about the law being applied."

Joel Levon said Keeler needed to take full responsibility for his son's death.

"We all hope that the judge will issue a sentence that will protect our loved ones from repeat offenders and stop another innocent victim from being killed by a drunk driver," Kathryn Levon said.

But Keeler and members of his family said the construction worker has found God since the crash and seeks the Levons' forgiveness.

They asked that Keeler be ordered to serve no more than the minimum six-year term in prison.

Keeler's previous criminal history includes a 1999 misdemeanor drunken driving conviction in Carroll County and 2001 convictions in Tippecanoe County for maintaining a common nuisance and dealing marijuana. He was released from probation less than two months before the fatal crash.

The habitual substance offender allegation was dropped when Keeler pleaded guilty to Class B felony operating while intoxicated resulting in death.

Carroll County prosecutor Rob Ives argued for the maximum sentence allowed in the plea agreement.

Adam Levon, a 2002 Carroll High School graduate, was a mechanical engineering major at Kettering University in Flint, Mich. He had a co-op job at Great Lakes Motor Works in Boyne, Mich., and built race cars.