By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
A Hays couple was sentenced Monday in Ellis County for their roles in a fatal hit-and-run accident that killed an Ellis County man in 2015.
After reaching plea agreements earlier this year, Holliann Stramel and Trevor Calvin were sentenced by District Judge Glenn Braun in the death of 67-year-old John Befort.
Stramel pleaded no contest to failure to stop and render aid at a fatality accident and vehicular homicide in January. She admitted driving the pickup that struck and killed Befort southwest of Hays on July 18, 2015.
On Monday, she was sentenced to one year of house arrest and 60 days in jail. Stramel was also ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.
Trevor Calvin, now Stramel’s husband, also was sentenced Monday in Ellis County District Court for attempting to cover up the accident.
Calvin pleaded guilty in January to conceal or alter evidence (a felony) and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. He was also placed on probation for 28 months. Calvin is on probation through the end of the year after a DUI arrest in Pratt County and must finish his sentence in that case before beginning serving probation in this case.
Officials said he lied to authorities about the location of the pickup following the accident and helped take it to Colorado to have it repaired.
Ellis County Attorney Tom Drees applauded law enforcement personnel who took broken pieces of plastic found near the scene and worked to locate the vehicle involved.
Stramel initially chose not to speak during her allocution prior to sentencing Monday, but Braun called a 10-minute recess and told her to rethink that decision. Following the recess, Stramel said she chose not to speak because she was not sure she could keep it together. She then apologized to the family and said, “I’m sorry and wish I had more to say.”
Braun said he had not made up his mind and paced back and forth in his office during the recess calling Stramel’s case the “most difficult” type of case.
He said the sentence is of interest to the community and, if there was no punishment, there would be no incentive to not break the law.
But, ultimately, Braun said that while he did not know John Befort, he believes from statements read by his family members Monday he was a kind man.
“It doesn’t sound like John Befort was a vindictive man,” Braun said. “He was a kind man.”
Braun said there was no evidence that Stramel intentionally killed Befort and because he was killed instantly Stramel could not have rendered aid, but she still failed to stop after the accident, which is illegal. Braun said “you killed him.”
For the misdemeanor vehicular homicide charge, Braun sentenced Stramel to serve one-year of house arrest and, on the felony failure to render aid, she was sentenced to 36 months probation. As a result of the probation, she will also serve 60 days in jail. The jail time will be served in at least 48-hour increments following the completion of her house arrest.
Calvin was sentenced to 11 months of probation on the felony attempted conceal or alter evidence. He will also serve 60 days in jail as a result of the probation. Like Stramel, that time will be served in at least 48-hour increments.
Braun said that both families have a vested interested in the sentences. Stramel and Calvin recently had child together and and have since married.
Before the hearings, members of the Befort family took the opportunity to address the court, Calvin and Stramel – who sat side-by-side and the courtroom packed with family members of all parties involved.
Befort’s sister Marilyn Billinger said John was “our joy” and that they miss him every day. He loved animals and loved people, and Billinger said he was “always there when people needed him.”
John Befort, who served as the caretaker for their parents – who are in their 90s – would take a daily walk near his rural home and was found by his brother Pete hours after being struck by Stramel.
Pete Befort’s wife Amy Befort told the court her husband still has nightmares from the night he found his brother.
Befort also said neither Calvin or Stramel have shown any remorse in her opinion. The two were seen partying and attending multiple bars the night of the incident, she said, and also pointed out that they, in defiance of a no-contact order, conceived a child.
Calvin also accused Pete Befort of attacking him on Labor Day Weekend in 2015, allegations that were unfounded. Calvin allegedly was drinking and staged the attack, then falsely reported the incident to law enforcement.
A civil case between Befort’s family and Stramel and Calvin has been resolved with Calvin’s insurance company paying the settlement. Amy Befort and Billinger said neither Stramel nor Calvin admitted guilt in the settlement and asked the court to impose the largest possible fines because the insurance company paid the fine and not the couple.
During his allocution, Calvin said they did not challenge the suit and was upset because the insurance company raised his premiums to an almost unaffordable amount.
The judge imposed a $25,000 fine for Stramel.
Calvin said, during allocution, “I’m sorry for any part we took” in the accident.
He also took offense to the media coverage of himself and Stramel, saying the media portrayed them as “bad guys.” Calvin told Judge Braun that he has grown up and that his trouble was in the past.
But Braun said he had a felony DUI arrest in 2011 with a conviction in 2013 and another DUI arrest in 2012 and conviction in 2015. Braun said those incidents are not “back in your high school days,” as Calvin had claimed.
After he was arrested for a DUI in Pratt, Calvin said he spent 47 days in a treatment facility and that, “I’m just doing the best that I can.”
Stramel began serving house arrest immediately following the sentencing, and Calvin will continue reporting to Northwest Kansas Corrections for probation.
Drees said the last 19 months have been a tremendous burden on the Befort family and said that “hopefully time will heal.”