William's behavior after the crash is what contributed to the final sentence, in accordance with the parents of Drelles' wishes. Frantz changed his lifestyle and refused to even be in the presence of alcohol. He focused himself solely on being productive in succeeding in school, as mentioned below. He wishes to honor his friend Drelles in his life by living it well, a wish he most certainly will fulfill. Frantz is an exceptional person, which ultimately led to a sentence more fit for someone who is actively taking responsibility for his actions. The felony sentence would be fit for someone who might make the same decision twice, but for someone who is doing the best he can to honor his friend's life by changing his own doesn't deserve such a sentence. The problem with our justice system is when a blanket is thrown over all who "break the law", which everyone undoubtedly does many times throughout their lives. Sentences should be tailored to fit the person serving them for justice to be present, no?

It's easy to point a finger of blame at someone involved in a tradegy, but if anyone here were to meet Frantz, you would feel regret in your scornful, ignorant words. The point is, don't judge a situation from the outside.

Speaking as someone who knows William Frantz personally, I think its ridiculous to read some of the accusations people are willing to make about someone before considering a situation.

Not only did Mr. Frantz stay in school after the accident awaiting a sentencing, he maintained a 4.0 GPA at Michigan Tech as a Computer Science major (not easy).

What he did will stick with him for the rest of his life. What the news neglected to mention is that Mr. Frantz also participates in community service, speaking to high schools around the area about the mistakes he made and how to prevent them.

Think before you judge.

I can't help but agree w/ Concerned Mother on this one. This young boy has to live with the fact that he killed one of his friends, do you not think that that will deter him from drinking and driving in the future? Why does it have to be jail or prison that breaks a person, why can't it just be their conscience? Everyone knows that kids think they're immortal and that nothing bad will ever happen to them. All of you that are throwing stones right now have better not have ever drove while under the influence and better yet, have better not have had a passenger in the car while doing so!
I'm also disgusted by the person that said that the deceased could not have been a very intelligent person...who are you to say this? He lost his life and you are saying that he wasn't very intelligent? I can only pray that something like this doesn't happen to any one of you and that people don't act towards you how you are acting towards these people. What the hell is wrong w/ our society today???

Grady, at first your inbility to participate in truth really irked me - I didn't get off on some technicality, I am and always will always be completely innocent. Your proclamation that I will "have my day' after already being slandered and libeled, getting retribution is something I'm forced to wish on you.

And then I realized, in both my cases the Justice System prevailed. Glad you're not a judge and instead are some mouth on a stick Grady.

Concerned mother, I'm glad for you. You obviously got off on a technecality. You worked the system to get yourself out of trouble. You will eventually have your day.

Secondly, whether or not the parents wanted anything done does not matter. I commend them for their forgiving spirit. I don't know if I myself would be able to do it. The law was broken, a person died. Simple as that. Justice was not served. A young man's life was taken, violently and recklessly. The crash could have involved any of us, just driving by and getting hit. I know I'm Sunday morning QB'ing here, because that did not happen, but it could have. My point is that it still may happen to someone else, because they didn't think they would be in "that much trouble." Lastly, justice was not done, for the time that was taken by responders, the resources that were used with our tax money, and for the men and women who were on scene that night. Emergency personel do not forget about a crash like that...ever. They took time out of their schedule to clean up the mess. They take it personally when they have to do this kind of work, which could have been prevented, by someone not getting behind the wheel. It sticks with them forever. The people have a reason to be angry. We don't want this to happen in our county.

I have news for you all, years ago I was initially blamed for furnishing alcohol to minors, at a party which several people died in two seperate car crashes.

Never mind that I didn't furnish alcohol nor drugs, and I'd left the party early in the evening. My case was easilly dismissed due to "a lack of evidence" and FYI TV6 was the only news agency who had the moxy to report it.

I learned there are people in this world who get their self-importance rush by fabricating scenarios and imposing "appropriate" judgements. And they werent' there, to know facts, offer a ride to an intoxicated person or suggest an alternative.

If the parents of Lee Drelles - who are obviusly more familiar with every detail more than you or I - say William Frantz shouldn't be crucified as per chicken hawk lynch mob - then you speculators/scenario imaginers/armchair judges ought to find a way to be useful to society, because you are knowingly trespassing against the will of the parents of Lee Drelles.

And if you show your contempt to a victims parents wishes - by your example you are of the same mindset of the kids who show contempt for Law by getting loaded in the first place.

typical college kid let off. the college goes in session and we have these drunk wreckless morons roaming the streets, screaming and yelling in the wee a.m. hours, throwing chairs through windows (true story), knocking down mailboxes, driving while intoxicated and im sure much more that i am failing to list. no one ever does anything about the damages caused by these people because all they have to do is whip out mommy and daddys credit card and promise to stimulate our economy for a few months. in my view, this kid should be in prison. take him off the streets for longer than a couple months because obviously he is not fit to function in society. his friend that died wasnt much more intelligent either. this was probably a fun buzz cruise gone wrong. in fact they were probably going to get more booze. unfortunately the one that didnt die is just going to be back at it in a few months to possibly kill someone else. hooray for justice. not.

Sounds harsh but when you think about it it's true . It's not like everybody doesn't know drinking and driving is just plain wrong . He knowingly got drunk and got behind the wheel of a car . And because he was drunk he crashed the car killing his friend . That's premeditated murder . Not an accident . Drunk drivers kill more than 55 thousand people every year . It's nice that the family of the victim has the heart to forgive this young man but he broke the law and should be punished for doing so .

If the consequences of drinking and driving being the death of your friend (and vice versa) isn't considered a deterrent, then the lynch mob crowd here ought to be inquired that if jail were really a deterrant then why are the prisons already full?

Who are you o lynch mob to desecrate the love and maturity of the parents of the victim?

Accidents happen, but the reaction of hate and vendetta from the critics only speak of their ignorance of the real judge who has ruled loud and clear, the parents of the victim.

Goodness, what kind of sentence is this? Despite the family of the victim wishing leniency on this individual it does not negate that he choose to drink and drive and the end result is homicide. Down state if you did this very same thing you would receive 6-7 years for one life driving while drunk. In the UP and Northeastern Wisconsin, you can kill your friend while driving drunk and get 9-10 months with Huber. What about those who have nobody to ask for leniency on their behalf, do you throw the book at them because the victims family wants the sentence to be harsh? It should hinge on justice and not one's opinion, of leniency so that sentences are more fair and in-line to send a message that it is wrong to drink and drive: Kill ANYBODY and you will suffer consequences. He should have received a sentence of prison, about 5 years minimum. Ah, well, they let murderers out; premeditated murderers, why not drunk drivers. Something needs to change!!

If this was a case where some loser killed another person he would be going to prison. INstead it is a college kid who killed his friend and the victims' family does not want him to go to prison so the county judicial heads throw him this big plea bargain and he spends time in the local county jail at the work camp. What message does this send to young kids and others about drunk driving?? I applaud the victim's family for forgiving and not wanting to waste another human life by putting someone in prison but where is the deterent in this case??

Sometimes good people make bad decisions which result in dire consequences. It seems that this young man fits into this category. The sentence certainly is on the leinient side of the law. I'm sure many people would have liked to see a lengthy prison term for him, but where do we draw the line between justice and revenge?

Quoting from the article: In exchange for a guilty plea, a felony charge of driving while intoxicated causing death was DISMISSED. Is anyone else as disgusted with our local legal system as I am? From what I understand, the victim's family requested that this young man not do any hard time in prison for this. That's fine, but what about the message this sends to our youth? Causing death felony drunk driving is a 15-year felony. This law was put into place to DISCOURAGE people from driving while intoxicated. This person knew it was against the law to drive drunk, chose to anyway, kills someone and now only gets this sentence. How does this at all send a message to anyone other than drinking and driving isn't all that bad? Our prosector's office is a joke, the judicial system is a joke. Come to Houghton County everyone and commit your crime... we'll plea bargain your felony down to absolutely nothing (regardless of what you did), as long as you say you did it, so we don't have to spend anytime proving it. Remember this when voting time comes.. I will.