Merrill man gets 15 years in prison for 2022 crash that killed 8-year-old Gleason boy

MERRILL − A 43-year-old Merrill man was sentenced Monday in Lincoln County Circuit Court to 15 years in prison for a crash that killed an 8-year-old Gleason boy.

On Feb. 20, John J. Lahti pleaded no contest to and was found guilty of homicide by drunken driving in the death of Ian Skaar, and to drunken driving causing injury. Lincoln County Circuit Judge Robert Russell sentenced Lahti to 15 years in prison and 10 years extended supervision. Russell also ordered Lahti to write a letter of apology to his victims, which must be approved by his corrections agent, and maintain absolute sobriety.

According to court documents, a pickup driven by Lahti was going south on State 17, in the Lincoln County town of Merrill, at 7:22 p.m. Aug. 17, 2022, when it crossed the centerline and crashed head-on into a vehicle driven by a 42-year-old Gleason man.

Skaar was killed in the crash. A 37-year-old woman in the vehicle suffered critical injuries in the crash and was flown to a hospital. The 42-year-old man went to another hospital. A 9-year-old girl in the vehicle suffered nonlife-threatening injuries.

Lahti, who has been in jail pending a $500,000 cash bail since shortly after the crash, was given credit for 600 days already served.

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Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.