Minnesota man sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for fatal 2023 Walsh County rollover crash

May 23—WALSH COUNTY — A Minnesota man was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison Thursday afternoon, May 23,

for causing a fatal 2023 rollover crash in Walsh County.

"There are multiple things I could've done to change that day," Dominic Micheal Billmeier, 25, said during the hearing. "I am sorry."

On March 2, 2023, Billmeier was "screwing around and showing off," his vehicle passenger told law enforcement, according to a complaint filed in the case. Witnesses reported observing him doing burnouts and donuts in Warsaw, North Dakota, before the crash.

Driving recklessly and at a high rate of speed, east of Warsaw on County Road 15, Billmeier lost control of his vehicle. It entered the ditch and rolled over, ejecting both passengers — Billmeier's girlfriend and her friend, Mackenzie Joy Kramchuck, according to court statements.

Kramchuck died from her injuries. She and Billmeier hardly knew each other, he said.

She was visiting the area for her mother's birthday, according to court statements. When Linsey Boulduc awoke that night to find her daughter's bed empty, she knew something was wrong. Her firstborn, at 23, was responsible, mature and reliable, she said in her victim impact statement.

"I knew for a fact she didn't do anything wrong," Boulduc said.

Kramchuck began working hard at a young age, and knew she wanted to dedicate her life to helping others. At the time of her death, she'd been in nursing school and working as a traveling certified nursing assistant.

"She always put her heart into everything," Boulduc said.

Sentencing took place 1:30 p.m. Thursday, at the Walsh County Courthouse in Grafton.

In January, Billmeier pleaded guilty to Class C felony reckless endangerment-extreme indifference. His Class C felony negligent homicide charge was dismissed pursuant to a plea agreement, however, his guilty plea was open and up to the judge's discretion.

As a Class C felony, the crime falls under North Dakota's expectations of presumptive probation. Unless there are aggravating factors involved, defendants charged with a majority of Class C felonies or Class A misdemeanors are expected to be sentenced to probation with no term of incarceration.

Kelley Marie Riley Cole, representing the state, said she believes there are aggravating factors present in this case, including Billmeier's responsibility as the driver of the vehicle and Kramchuck's lack of control over how the vehicle was operated. Cole also mentioned Kramchuck's age, saying, "she had her whole life ahead of her."

Cole asked that Billmeier be sentenced to five years but serve only one at the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Kramchuck's loved ones who spoke during the hearing asked for the maximum five-year sentence.

Judge Barbara Whelan, after hearing from family members, the state, the defense and Billmeier himself, sentenced him to five years, first serving two-and-a-half years in prison. Before passing down the sentence, she explained the dilemna she believed herself to face in cases like this.

"There's what I want to do and what I have to do," Whelan said. "I'm part of the problem that we have in our justice system, of judges taking things into their own hands."

The system doesn't work, she said, if she doesn't follow the law. Despite her feeling that presumptive probation was never meant to apply to crimes that resulted in another's death, she has to maintain her role as an impartial judge.

"If the actions of somebody else take the life of a person, there are consequences," Whelan said. "That consequence shouldn't be a slap on the hand. It shouldn't be."

She asked aloud how many mornings waking up in prison would be enough of a punishment for Billmeier, and eventually determined to give him half the maximum sentence.

"I can't really comprehend the depth of that loss," Whelan addressed family members in attendance. "... Five years is not enough. A lifetime is not enough."

Following release, Billmeier will be on supervised probation for three years. If he violates probation, he may be required to serve the remainder of his five-year sentence in custody. He must pay $20,240 in restitution. He has credit for 15 days served in custody.