FALL RIVER, Mass. (WPRI) — A Bristol man was sentenced to serve a year and a half in prison for causing a wrong-way crash that claimed the life of a Portsmouth man in January 2021.

Hector Fernandez, 55, pleaded guilty to motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation, according to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office. He was sentenced two and a half years, with 18 months to serve at the House of Correction and the rest suspended for five years.

The crash happened around 3:45 a.m. on I-195 West in Somerset. Police said Fernandez was driving eastbound when he hit a car driven by Adriaen Thibeault head-on.

Thibeault, 21, was on his way to work, the DA's office said. As a result of the crash, he was trapped inside his vehicle, which caught fire and become fully engulfed in flames.

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