DODGE COUNTY, Wis. — A 49-year-old man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison in connection to a deadly crash.
According to a news release, Robert Underwood, 49, was sentenced by the Dodge County Circuit Court. He was found guilty of knowingly operating a motor vehicle while suspended causing death and great bodily harm by a court trial in July.
The release said Underwood was driving on Highway 60 in September 2017 when he crossed the center line and collided with another car traveling westbound. One person in the other car was flown to a hospital with severe injuries while the driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said Underwood’s license had been suspended in Mahy due to speeding 25 miles per hour over the limit.
Officials said Underwood had a lengthy criminal history starting at 18 years old. It included multiple convictions.
A year prior to the 2017 crash, the release said Underwood caused a crash that injured the other car’s occupants. Seventeen months after the crash, Underwood caused another crash injuring at least three people. He also spent several years in a federal prison for running a cocaine distribution ring.
“The defendant always has a convenient excuse for the harm he causes,” said District Attorney Kurt F. Klomberg in a statement at the sentencing. “He has hurt 5 people and killed 1 in three car crashes over a period of 28 months. In each of these crashes he has had an excuse to divert attention away from his responsibility. He is a con man, who will say and do anything to avoid responsibility for the things he does. Now he is a con man who has killed someone.”
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