Waukesha — Former surgeon Mark M. Benson was handed a sentence Monday that will keep him in prison until he is just shy of his 87th birthday.
It appears to be one of the stiffest sentences handed down in the state for a conviction of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle.
Waukesha Circuit Court Judge J. Mac Davis sentenced Benson to 30 years in prison for the 2008 crash that killed popular teacher and associate principal Jennifer Bukosky of Oconomowoc High School, her unborn child and her 10-year-old daughter, Courtney Bella, and injured two children.
Benson, 56, could have faced as many as 53 years in prison for the deaths and injuries, and relatives of the victims had urged Davis to impose the maximum. During a nearly four-hour sentencing hearing, many of the relatives who spoke told Davis that Benson should die in prison.
"Our family is forever locked in a prison that we cannot escape from. Ours is a sentence of a lifetime without them and constant grief as our companion," Michael Bukosky, Jennifer's husband, told the judge about losing his wife, unborn child Sophia and stepdaughter Courtney in the crash. "Since we will die with this sentence that Mark Benson has forced on us, he should forever be locked up till his last days on earth. He should not be able to kiss his wife or embrace his daughters until I am able to do so."
"When you sentence this man, please look at what one man with an SUV had done that Friday evening in April 2008. There is an ancient Rabbinic teaching: To destroy a single life is to destroy the world. That man has not just killed my family, he has destroyed my world," Michael Bukosky said.
Family speaks of anguish
Speaker after speaker, 14 in all, told Davis how Benson had devastated their families and caused anguish that time has not abated.
Judy Jenkins, Jennifer's mother, spoke about how Jennifer Bukosky was killed one day before her 40th birthday and how Courtney died the day after the crash, on what would have been her mom's birthday.
"The deaths of Jennifer, Courtney and Sophia have left behind wounded family members. The light in our family has been snuffed out," Jenkins said. "Mark Benson extinguished more than just lives when he killed our daughter and granddaughters. He shattered dreams and stole hope for the future. He left behind broken hearts and raggedy, jagged tears in our souls and a trail of overwhelming sadness, anger and loss."
Benson spoke briefly, expressing remorse for the tragedy he caused.
"Your honor, I am solely responsible for this tragedy. . . . I am horribly, ashamedly sorry for all the pain that I have caused. I fully realize anything I say wouldn't alleviate any of their sorrow. I will feel sorrow and guilt for the rest of my life for this, and I'll never forgive myself," Benson told Davis.
Benson's attorney, Dean A. Strang, said Benson deserved to go to prison, but that a term of 10 to 20 years would allow Benson to return to his family as an elderly man. Strang said a prison sentence should be crafted to give Benson "a chance at redemption."
After the hearing, Jenkins, Dan Gibbs, the father of Deborah Gibbs who was injured in the crash, and Assistant District Attorney Kevin M. Osborne said they were pleased with the sentence.
"I think the sentence is fair given the circumstances. It is more than the 10-to-20 that was mentioned. I'm pleased he'll be an old man if he gets out," Jenkins said.
Osborne said, "this is one of the toughest sentences ever given out."
In comments before he issued the sentence, Davis noted that he could find only one case in the state in which a person convicted of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle got 25 years in prison. Anything over 15 years would be "unusual" or "highly unusual," Davis said.
But he also said the public needed to be protected from Benson.
Benson in June pleaded no contest to three charges of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and two counts of causing injury while driving intoxicated in the deaths and was convicted by Davis. It was part of a plea agreement that reduced his maximum possible prison term by 35 years - from about 88 years to about 53 years.
Benson had what prosecutors say was a significant level of the sleep aid Ambien in his system, as well as Xanax, which is used to treat anxiety, and oxycodone, a painkiller, when the crash occurred April 25, 2008, at a traffic signal in the northbound lane of Highway 67 at Pabst Road in Oconomowoc.
The crash killed Bukosky, 39, of the Town of Oconomowoc, her unborn child, and her daughter, Courtney Bella. Bukosky's son, Zachary Bella, then 12, and a family friend, Deborah Gibbs, then 10, were injured.
Impaired driving not new
On Monday, Strang said Benson undoubtedly was impaired to some degree at the time of the accident, but it would have been difficult to prove the degree of impairment had a trial been held.
He said Benson was talking on his cell phone at the time of the crash and that may have contributed to the crash more than Benson having used the prescription drugs.
Benson was not supposed to be driving at the time. Two days before the crash, Benson had pleaded guilty to a 2007 drunken driving offense in Brookfield.
Judge Lee S. Dreyfus Jr. ordered Benson not to drive but gave him 16 days to report to the county's work-release jail to begin serving a 75-day term for his third drunken driving conviction.
Benson has a history of drug and alcohol abuse dating back to at least 1993, according to court records.
Benson, once an orthopedic surgeon, surrendered his medical license in December 2004 after forging prescriptions for himself, according to information from the state Medical Examining Board.