Fatal hit-and-run driver sentenced

A Gwinn man is going to prison for his role in a fatal hit-and-run accident.

31–year–old Luke Huotari was in Marquette County Circuit Court today.

He was sentenced on two counts of failure to stop at the scene of a personal injury accident causing serious injury or death.

Huotari will spend five to 18 years in prison, concurrently, on each charge.

A Marquette couple was walking to Lake Superior to watch the city’s July 4th fireworks display when they were hit by a vehicle on South Front Street.

Huotari was the driver, and he left the scene.

Karin LaChapell died from her injuries, but her husband survived the accident.