Judge tosses guilty pleas in hit-and-run fatality

CANTON — A St. Lawrence County judge has thrown out a Chase Mills man's guilty pleas because he denied being involved in a fatal accident.

George E. Olmstead Jr., 51, of 5451 County Route 14, pleaded guilty Oct. 1 in County Court in separate cases to leaving the scene of an accident without reporting and driving while intoxicated, both felonies.

County Judge Jerome J. Richards said Monday that Mr. Olmstead denied in an article published in The Massena Courier-Observer and during a presentence investigation report that he was involved in an accident. Both cases were scheduled for trial at future dates.

The Courier-Observer is owned by The Times's parent company, Johnson Newspaper Corp.

"He was trying to have it both ways," District Attorney Nicole M. Duvé said after the hearing.

Mr. Olmstead was accused of hitting Matthew N. Caldwell, 12, with a blue Ford pickup March 9 on Chase Mills Road in the town of Madrid. Matthew, who was driving a snowmobile when he was hit, later died of his injuries.

Mr. Olmstead also was accused of placing animal hair on the damaged part of the pickup March 10 to suggest he hit a deer instead of a snowmobile.

The DWI charge stemmed from his arrest March 28 by state police on County Route 14 in the town of Louisville. His blood alcohol content was 0.08 percent, the threshold to be considered intoxicated under state law. Mr. Olmstead has a history of drunken-driving convictions.

He was scheduled to be sentenced Monday on a plea agreement that called for him to serve from two to six years in state prison on the charge of leaving the scene of an accident and 11/3 to 4 years in jail on the DWI charge, which would have been served concurrently. With time served, he could have been released from prison in less than two years.

Several members of the Caldwell family were in the courtroom during the hearing. Ms. Duvé said that family members had hoped for a longer prison sentence than the plea agreement reached.

Before the now-vacated plea deal, Mr. Olmstead was charged with felony leaving the scene of an accident without reporting and two counts of tampering with physical evidence. He also faces a felony DWI charge for the March 28 incident. If convicted on all counts, he could receive up to 15 years in state prison.

He will remain in St. Lawrence County jail on $50,000 bail. He also had his driver's license suspended.