After appeal, man gets 50 years for DUI crash

Things didn't get that much better the second time around for a man who killed three people in an alcohol-fueled collision in 2000.

After a jury convicted him of 10 charges seven years ago, Joseph Safrany got a life sentence.

He appealed and got a new sentence hearing.

Today, Circuit Judge Wayne S. Timmerman meted out a 50-year prison term for Safrany.

Before his 2003 trial, prosecutors offered Safrany a 20-year plea deal. He turned it down.

Timmerman told Safrany, 45, he was "fundamentally opposed" to the previous life sentence despite a prosecutor's urging he hand it down again.

"I think Mr. Safrany's actions justify imposing the maximum sentence," the judge said.

Safrany was driving a friend home along Sheldon Road in northwestern Hillsborough County April 7, 2000. Witnesses said he was speeding in excess of 70 mph in a 45 mph zone. His blood alcohol level was given at between 0.18 percent and 0.2 percent. Florida presumes intoxication when the level reaches 0.08 percent.

Troy Call, 24, also intoxicated, was driving a Honda Civic in the opposite direction and made a left turn in front of the oncoming Cadillac. Call and two passengers - Brandon Smith, 19, and Shawn Falla, 20 - were killed. Another passenger Robert Falla, then 23, was seriously injured.

Timmerman sentenced Safrany to 15 years for each of the deaths, with the prison terms to be served consecutively. He then tacked on an extra five years for Robert Falla's injuries.

Family and friends of Safrany and the victims sat on opposite sides of the courtroom.

Bailiffs took precautions to keep them separated. The victims' group was kept inside the courtroom as Safrany's supporters filed out and then led down a different staircase usually reserved for courthouse personnel and jurors.

Safrany asked for leniency, saying he could be a powerful voice for the consequences of drunk driving if allowed out of prison.

"I know first hand the problem of this is that you never think it will happen to you," he said. "I'm not looking to get out of jail anytime soon, but am asking you reduce my sentence so I can speak against drunk driving."

Debora Moss, Safrany's attorney, pointed out that Call was more intoxicated when he made his left turn.

Assistant State Attorney Mark Lewis said the defense was only trying to blame the victims.

"Mr. Safrany took three lives and seriously hurt another," he said.

Safrany got the second sentencing hearing when he convinced a judge in a post-conviction motion that his trial lawyer should have presented evidence of his remorse at his sentencing hearing.

Before the case went to trial, Safrany fled the day after some friends threw him a birthday party. He assumed the identity of a dead man, Joe Brown, and lived in Pennsylvania for 15 months. He turned himself in after he saw himself on America's Most Wanted.

tbrennan@tampatrib.com