Seven years after a bizarre hit-and-run case, the Smyrna man responsible for the death of a motorcyclist asked a judge Friday for a reduced sentence.
He was denied.
Brandon Michael Weston, 39, pleaded guilty in 2016 to charges of hit-and-run, homicide by vehicle in the first degree and tampering with evidence for hitting and killing Emanuel R. Mitchell.
Weston had a negotiated deal of 15 years, with eight to be served in prison and the rest on probation. Prosecutor Patricia Hull told Channel 2 Action News that Weston accepted the plea deal the day his trial was slated to begin.
He filed a motion for the sentence to be reduced three months ago, Channel 2 reported.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t have remorse. I keep Mr. Mitchell and his family in my thoughts and prayers,” Weston told the judge Friday, Channel 2 reported.
In 2011, Weston was driving a Porsche on I-75 in the southbound lanes near Windy Hill Road when he hit Mitchell, then a 31-year-old Norcross resident who was driving a motorcycle. That caused another car to hit Mitchell as well, and he died at the scene.
Weston left the scene and covered his damaged car behind a hotel to hide it. His then-girlfriend and later wife, Pamela Kay Rice of Marietta, went with him to Alabama to take the Porsche to an auto shop.
"They advised the body shop that they wanted some of the evidence destroyed and also, they wanted the vehicle painted a totally different color,” an investigator said at the time.
Weston asked the owner to paint the car and wheels black, burn any parts that came off the car, to not look online for any parts, and to back date the repair invoice.
The owner quickly became suspicious and searched the internet. After finding coverage of the hit-and-run in Atlanta, the owner notified police, who had been searching for the Porsche for 10 days.
Weston also pleaded guilty to charges of battery and theft from a separate 2013 domestic incident. Rice was sentenced to three years on probation for tampering with evidence.
In March, Weston wrote a letter saying he had been “productive in assisting, teaching and mentoring other offenders,” Channel 2 reported.
The judge denied Weston’s request, commending him on his good deeds in prison but not accepting them as a reason for a sentence reduction, according to Channel 2.
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