In his sixth conviction for drunk driving, a 48-year-old Wisconsin man who killed four of his siblings told a judge that he wished he had perished in the collision and that he prays for the victims every day. Calls between the repeat offender and his wife while he was in jail, however, suggest that his apologies might have been hollow.
According to court documents, Waupaca County Judge Raymond Huber sentenced Scott Farmer to 37 and a half years in prison with 342 days of credit.
In a head-on collision on Highway 10 in Weyauwega on December 16, 2023, the defendant killed Daniel Gonzalez, 25, the driver of the other car, together with his brother Fabian Gonzalez, 23, and his sisters Lilian Gonzalez, 14, and Daniela Gonzalez, 9.
Farmer was using the eastbound lane while traveling west. In the truck, an EMT found a huge bottle of vodka.
Prosecutors brought up Farmer and his wife’s phone conversations from prison at the sentencing hearing. Green Bay NBC station WGBA said in court that Farmer accused the victim’s stepfather of operating a sex trafficking ring out of his church.
According to reports, Scott’s wife claimed that on the day of the accident, God was acting through him. The farmer and his spouse allegedly claimed during the calls that since many of the victim’s relatives are from Ecuador, immigration checks ought to be conducted at the courtroom door.
According to reports, Huber called the remarks “ludicrous and offensive to the court.”
The mother of the victim, Paulina Schilling, spoke of her suffering following the collision.
After a few days, she reportedly added via a translator, “I had to go see them at the funeral parlor, and it was the most heartbreaking day of my life.” How I felt seeing them all dead on a cot is beyond anyone’s comprehension.
As previously reported, Farmer entered a no contest plea in August to four counts of motor vehicle murder by intoxicated usage and one count of fifth-time drunk driving.
Associated coverage:
Four outstanding traffic citations and one more criminal charge were dropped as part of the plea deal. In December 2023, Farmer was first charged with four counts of motor vehicle homicide by intoxication.
One count of operating a vehicle while inebriated for the fifth time, reckless driving, driving the wrong way on a split highway, speeding on an expressway, and one count of operating a vehicle with a revoked license.
Many tributes to the deceased can be found on a Facebook page. They have set up a GoFundMe page to support their family.
Farmer told police, “I just spun out and I didn’t hit anybody,” in response to a question about what transpired following the collision. After that, he started acting aggressively toward firefighters and made an effort to assault medical personnel.
Eventually, Farmer acknowledged that he had consumed a lot of alcohol.
The criminal complaint states that Farmer smelled strongly of alcohol, according to the deputies who looked into the collision.
A deputy said, “I could smell a strong odor of intoxicants emanating from inside the vehicle.” I saw that Scott’s eyes were glassy (or watery) and bloodshot. He was dropping his eyes.
He stammered and talked extremely slowly and heavily. I couldn’t understand him since his words drifted off and his speech was occasionally nonsensical. His eye movements, in particular, were delayed and sluggish.
When urged to sit still, he likewise resisted. At one time, he attempted to crawl to the passenger side of the vehicle. These findings all suggest impairment, particularly impairment brought on by alcohol usage.
Farmer had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of.346 at the time his blood was taken, according to a blood test. Because of his criminal background, the defendant’s blood alcohol content was even lower than the legal limit of.08 for ordinary drivers in Wisconsin.
His legal limit was.02 due to past convictions for drunk driving.
The defendant has a history of drinking and driving that goes back many years. On October 6, 1999, September 18, 2001, November 29, 2006, and December 18, 2019, he was found guilty of these charges.
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