Driver pleads guilty in fatal 2013 crash
A state police trooper leads Jordan Jacobson to a cruiser after he was arraigned in July on charges of dealing heroin and marijuana while free on bond awaiting trial for vehicular homicide.
Michael Gregg speaks with Lisa Gregg, right, following the plea hearing for the driver who killed their son, Michael Dillon Gregg, in a rollover crash in Smith Township in July 2013.
Kelly Bowland stands with her daughter, Heather, and her son, Jacob, after the driver who killed her son, Joseph, in a single-car crash last year pleaded guilty.
The parents of Michael Dillon Gregg and Joseph Bowland didn’t see any remorse or regret in the face of the McDonald man whose reckless driving killed their sons in a July 2013 crash, making it all the more difficult for them to explain the hurt his actions have caused them.
Jordan Jacobson just folded his hands together and looked down at the desk where he was sitting after pleading guilty Tuesday afternoon to two counts of vehicular homicide and other charges, never making eye contact with the parents as they testified about the lives he changed.
“You’re a coward and showed no remorse or have taken any responsibility for his death. All of his goals are gone,” Kelly Bowland said of her son, Joseph, before pausing to compose herself. “And you can’t even look at me. You can’t even put your head up.”
Jacobson, 20, pleaded guilty in Washington County Court to the vehicular homicide charges, along with aggravated assault by vehicle and five counts of drug possession with intent to deliver. Washington County Judge Gary Gilman sentenced him to 3 to 6 years in prison, followed by six years of probation.
Gregg, 22, of Bulger, and Bowland, 20, of McDonald, died in the July 27, 2013, crash that occurred when Jacobson was speeding on Joffre-Bulger Road in Smith Township and lost control, causing the car to roll. A third passenger was seriously injured. Jacobson was out on bond for the crash charges when state police arrested him almost exactly one year later on charges of dealing heroin and marijuana on five separate occasions.
Jacobson’s drug dealing while awaiting trial on the homicide charges showed Gregg’s father, Michael, he wasn’t sorry for the fatal crash.
“The hardest part for everyone in this room is he’s never showed remorse, and after that, he committed these crimes,” Michael Gregg said. “It’s hard to forgive when someone doesn’t have remorse, look us in the eyes or ask for forgiveness.”
Jacobson did address the court after listening to the victim-impact statements and spoke softly as he faced the nearly 20 family members in the gallery.
“I just want you guys to know I am truly sorry,” Jacobson said, his voice barely audible. “I know I might not have taken things to a certain degree, but I am sorry.”
When Michael Gregg asked him to clarify if that was, indeed, his apology to them, Jacobson quietly responded, “Yes, sir.”
Gregg’s mother, Lisa, implored Jacobson to participate in educational programs and other opportunities while in prison.
“I know you live with the same thing I have endured every day,” Lisa Gregg said. “I hope it doesn’t haunt you like it does me. I hope you do something good with this day. I don’t want to see you back here.”
However, Kelly Bowland said she could never forgive Jacobson.
“Because of your actions and disregard for his life and recklessness, he’s gone,” she said. “He was my world, my life and my soul. He was on the road to big things, and he was so excited for it.”
Both mothers wept as Gilman watched two “memorial videos” of the victims before accepting the plea and handing down the sentence.
“You can’t help but be moved watching that and thinking of their untimely deaths and the loved ones they left behind,” Gilman said, his voice cracking with emotion at times.
Gilman also ordered Jacobson to pay restitution to the families for funeral expenses. Jacobson was returned to Washington County jail, where he’s been held since his July 25 arrest on the drug charges.