`trapped In Paradise'is A Painful Place To Be

Alzheimer's Group To Meet

Friday, December 02, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 2A 





WILKES-BARRE -- A former Shavertown resident was sentenced to serve at
least two months in jail on a drunken driving charge that stemmed from a fatal
accident last year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Jeffrey James Kairo, 24, was charged with drunken driving two months after
the July 17, 1993 crash that fatally injured 20-year-old Joseph B. Ganc of
Drums. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Judge Joseph M. Augello sentenced Kairo on Wednesday to serve 60 days to 23
months in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility. He also ordered Kairo to
attend safe driving school, perform 25 hours of community service, undergo a
drug and alcohol evaluation and pay a $300 fine. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kairo is free on bail until his Jan. 3 reporting date at the county jail. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Shortly after 11 p.m. that night, a 1986 Ford van driven by Kairo struck
Ganc's 1987 Mercury sedan on Route 93 near the intersection of Brookhill Road
in Conyngham. Ganc had to be extricated from his car and was flown to
Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where he later died of his injuries. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Police smelled alcohol on Kairo's breath as well as that of his four
passengers and found a cooler filled with beer bottles in the van. According
to police, Kairo had a blood-alcohol level of .110. The legal limit for
drivers in Pennsylvania is .10. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But the van was later cleaned out and police failed to file a report of the
accident, making it impossible to charge Kairo with vehicular homicide,
District Attorney Peter Paul Olszewski Jr. said at the time. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Olszewski complained that police also failed to notify his office and
removed too much potential evidence from the scene of the accident before
county detectives could get there. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A Conyngham Borough police officer, Cpl. Stanley Lincalis, later resigned
after the botched investigation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Last summer, Ganc's parents, Dennis P. and Ann Marie Ganc, filed a $40,000
wrongful death lawsuit against Kairo, saying Kairo was negligent because he
was drunk and speeding at the time of the crash. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Man Gets 60 Days To 23 Months On Dui Charge That Stemmed From Fatal Accident