David Rath was sentenced on Monday to serve 90 days in prison for crashing his car into a group of motorcyclists

David Rath was sentenced on Monday to serve 90 days in prison for crashing his car into a group of motorcyclists and killing East Burke resident Philip Barrett. Rath, 44, of Kirby, pleaded no contest on Monday to gross negligent operation with fatality resulting and guilty to two counts of negligent operation with serious bodily injury resulting. Rath was then sentenced by Judge Justin Jiron to a sentence of 6-12 months, all suspended except for 90 days in prison and four years of probation. Rath was ordered to report to Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury on April 17 to start serving his sentence. Barrett was 43 years old when he was killed in the crash on Red Village Road in Lyndon in August 2020. Two other motorcyclists, including Kari Harris and Christopher Jenkins, were also injured in the collision. Both were transported by ambulance to Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Prosecutors allege that Rath was texting his wife when the crash occurred. Rath’s defense attorney, David Sleigh of St. Johnsbury, has argued that the data showed the texting occurred minutes before the crash and that Rath was looking down at his vehicle’s instrumentation and heater controls. Before reaching an agreement with prosecutors, Rath was facing a possible sentence of up to 45 years in prison and $45,000 in fines.