Man sentenced in fatal crash with officer

CONCORD, N.H. - A Henniker man probably will spend less than four years in prison for a drunken driving crash that killed an off-duty Hopkinton police officer.

Jeffrey Dennis, 22, pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and conduct after an accident. He was sentenced Tuesday to five to 15 years in prison.

All but four years were suspended, and he can get credit for time served.

The sentence followed a day of emotional testimony from the family and friends of Sean Powers, 24, of Hillsborough who was killed Aug. 14 when his motorcycle was struck as he rode home from work. Powers had joined the police force in April after serving two tours as a Marine in Iraq.

"Sean spent more time serving his country . . . than you'll be in jail," Powers's father, Peter, said. "He spent more time in the Boy Scouts."

A sobbing Dennis offered his victim's family a brief apology.

"There are no words I can say to bring your son back. . . . There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about the pain I've caused," he said.

The plea deal was reached after the defense argued that the state did not obtain a warrant before taking one of three blood samples after he was taken into custody six hours after the crash. Dennis, whose criminal record includes two attempts to escape arrest following other accidents, turned himself in to police after hiding in the woods near the crash scene.