Ozark man pleads guilty in alcohol related fatality

An Ozark man pleaded guilty Monday to manslaughter in an alcohol related crash that left his friend dead.

Adam Matthew Brockett, 27, of Dale County Road 20, originally faced a reckless murder charge but agreed to the lesser manslaughter charge when he entered a blind plea at the Dale County Courthouse.

Circuit Court Judge P. B. McLauchlin, Jr. will sentence Brockett at a later date, but faces two to 20 years for the class B felony. He originally faced 10 to 99 years or life in prison for the reckless murder charge.

Brockett’s friend, Angela Krystal Piasecki, died in the crash, and according to a previous Eagle report, they’d recently left her 24th birthday at a party when the crash happened.

Brockett was arrested and charged with murder after the vehicle he was driving on Oct. 19, 2008, left the roadway on Dale County Road 20, just east of Newton, killing his passenger, Piasecki. Brockett was released from custody the same day as the crash on a $25,000 bond.

She died about an hour after the wreck. According to a previous Eagle report, suffered multiple fractures, including a potentially serious fracture in his back.
According to a statement from the Dale County District Attorney’s Office, the crash was investigated by the Alabama State Troopers. The investigation showed Brockett’s blood alcohol level was .135 at the time of the crash. The legal BAC level in the Alabama is .08.

The investigation also showed Brockett’s vehicle was traveling about 84 miles per hour when it struck several trees after leaving the roadway.

According to a previous Eagle report, both Brockett and Piasecki wore seat belts as they traveled in the 2001 Nissan Brockett drove. State troopers said the crash happened around 4:20 a.m.