YouTube Drunk Driving Confessor Sentenced to 6.5 Years Despite Daughter's Plea for Maximum

Matthew Cordle, 22, killed Vincent Canzani, 61, in a drunk driving accident.

ByABC News
October 23, 2013, 9:46 AM

Oct. 23, 2013 — -- Despite an emotional plea today from the victim's daughter's for the maximum punishment, an Ohio judge sentenced a man who confessed on YouTube to killing a man in a drunk driving accident to six-and-a-half-years in prison.

Matthew Cordle, 22, uploaded a 3.5-minute video to YouTube on Sept. 3 in which he admitted to killing Vincent Canzani, 61, on June 22. Cordle's face was initially pixelated in the video, but then he makes the big reveal, showing his face and making a stunning admission.

"My name is Matthew Cordle, and on June 22, 2013, I hit and killed Vincent Canzani," he says. "This video will act as my confession."

Cordle, who was found injured at the scene of the accident and brought to the hospital, had a blood-alcohol content measured at 0.19 after the accident. The stark video confession went viral.

Canzani's daughter told the court today at Cordle's sentencing said that her father "got a death sentence and did nothing wrong." She asked the court to give Cordle the maximum sentence of eight-and-a-half years.

"Vincent Canzani was my father. He had two daughters and five grandchildren," Angela Canzani told the court. "My father was a man that had an impact on everyone he knew and touched the lives of many."

She said her father was a talented photographer and artist who enjoyed working out and being with the people he cared about.

"My sister, Marie, and I will never see our father's face again. Our children will never see their grandfather again," Canzani said. "We will never hear his voice. We will never hug him."

She said that she did not want the court to send the message that if someone hits and kills a person, they can admit to it later and get lenience.

"I hope Matthew Cordle does raise awareness after he does time," she said. "My father got a death sentence and did nothing wrong. Eight-and-a-half years is nothing. Less than that would be unjust. ... He will still have his whole life ahead of him. My dad is never coming back."

Franklin County Judge David Fais sentenced Cordle to six years for the aggravated vehicular homicide count and six months for operating a vehicle while impaired. He was given credit for 45 days served. The judge also ordered a lifetime suspension of his driving privileges.

Prosecutors had also asked for the maximum sentence, saying that Cordle drove in spite of a history of blackouts after heavy drinking. His defense attorneys asked for a lighter sentence to send a message about the value of taking responsibility for one's actions.

Cordle made a statement to the court before the sentencing. He said there was no such thing as a "fair sentencing" when someone loses their life.

"The true punishment is simply living with the knowledge that I took an innocent life," he said. "That pain and weight will never go away."

Cordle said he had privately apologized to the Canzani family, but wanted to take the opportunity "to apologize in person for my horrible crimes."

"I am so sorry for the pain I have caused you, for the loved one I have taken from you," he said to the family. "It should have been me that night, the guilty party, instead of an innocent man."

He vowed to work to prevent any more "senseless" loss of life. "I will not let Vincent's memory fade," Cordle said.

He initially pleaded not guilty before Judge Julie Lynch on Sept. 11 in what was seen as a tactical move by his attorneys to have a new judge preside over his case. She eventually set a combined $255,000 bond.

A week later, before Judge Fais, Cordle changed his plea to guilty on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and driving under the influence.

The judge also read a letter today from the victim's ex-wife, who asked for leniency for Cordle.