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Michel Brutus pleads guilty in fatal crash as part of plea deal in Charlotte County

Posted at 7:22 AM, Jun 25, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-25 09:39:13-04

**UPDATE (9:30AM)** -- Michel Brutus took a plea deal in Charlotte County Tuesday morning, pleading guilty to a car crash that killed two people in 2016.

The plea deal includes 14 years in prison and 8 years supervised probation. His license is suspended and he has to pay restitution for the victims' funerals.

The official sentencing is scheduled for 2:30 pm Tuesday after the victim's families will read statements.

Both families agreed with this plea offer.

More updates to come.
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CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. -- A man charged with killing two people while driving drunk heads to trial Tuesday.

Prosecutors say Michel Brutus crashed his car into a tree on U.S. 41 in Port Charlotte back in 2016. Two people in his car, Brittany Beni and Wesley Chery, died in the crash.

Investigators say Brutus ran from the crash scene and made it look like Chery was driving the car when it crashed.

Investigators say they pulled Brutus' DNA from the driver's airbag, and they arrested him nearly a year after the crash.

Brutus was later offered a plea dealof serving 11 years behind bars for charges that can often land criminals in jail for more than 30 years.

But that deal was thrown out when the judge refused to sign off on it.

He is scheduled to appear in a Charlotte County courtroom at 9 a.m. Tuesday.