Man sentenced for vehicular homicide
courtesy photo
Kenneth Lozeau Jr.
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A Ronan man was sentenced at District Court in Polson on May 27 to 20 years in the Montana State Prison with 10 years suspended for causing a car crash that killed his passenger. During a change of plea hearing on March 4, Kenneth Lozeau Jr., 27, entered a plea of guilty to vehicular homicide while under the influence.
According to court records, on May 23, 2020, emergency personnel responded to the report of a one-vehicle rollover on State Highway 35 near Fulkerson Lane east of Polson. At the scene, a Montana Highway Patrol Trooper observed a 1999 Chevy Silverado on its top, located on the east side of the highway facing east. Extensive damage was done to the entire Silverado.
Lozeau was treated by an ambulance crew for transport to the hospital. A female passenger, later identified as Ruby Dae Saluskin, 23, had died at the scene of blunt force trauma.
An investigation showed that Lozeau and Saluskin had been drinking earlier in the day. The two had just gotten the Silverado unstuck when they wrecked on Hellroaring Road. An area resident told investigators that he had helped the two free the vehicle and that’s when Lozeau took over driving.
The investigation also showed that Lozeau was traveling south when he failed to negotiate the curve at Fulkerson Lane and the Silverado rolled multiple times before coming to rest on its top.
Lozeau’s public defender, Bill Lower, had argued for a sentence of 20 years with the Montana Department of Corrections with 15 years suspended.
Judge Robert Whelan, who presided over the case via zoom platform from Silver Bow County, went with the harsher punishment telling Lozeau that “after this incident, instead of getting help, you got another DUI with others in the car. You were found passed out in the car. I had to issue a bench warrant for your arrest just to get the PSI (pre-sentence investigation) done.”
Whelan also ordered Lozeau to pay restitution of $3,236.
