Dustin Zinter jailed for 6 years for booze-fueled fatal hit-and-run
NANAIMO — A six-year prison sentence was handed down to the man at the centre of a high-profile and chaotic fatal hit-and-run trial in Nanaimo.
Dustin Dennis Zinter, 41, learned his fate from the Honourable Justice Robin Baird in BC Supreme Court in Nanaimo Friday morning. Zinter’s sentence, to be served in a federal prison, follows his conviction of dangerous driving causing death, failing to remain at the scene of an accident and failing to provide a breath sample.
Zinter is also banned from driving in Canada until October 2027. Time served already behind bars will remove 161 days from Zinter’s six-year sentence.
Court heard Zinter was under the influence of alcohol and distracted by his phone when his truck crossed the centre line on Yellow Point Rd. near Gould Rd. and hit a truck driven by Heidi Barbara Plato, 51, of Ladysmith on Nov. 10, 2015.