Original Plea Agreement Tossed Out Over Deportation
Concerns
It all started on August 22, 1982 --
when 19-year old Jerry Ambrozuk and his 18-year old girlfriend,
Dianne Babcock, took off from the airport in Penticton, British
Columbia, headed for Vancouver. Instead, the Cessna 150 ended up
over Montana -- and crashed into Bitterroot Lake in Flathead
County.
As ANN reported, Ambrozuk
called a friend and told him about the crash -- maintaining
Dianne's seatbelt had jammed, so there was just "no way" he could
get her out.
After 24 years on the run, Ambrozuk was arrested last August
near Dallas, TX and charged with negligent homicide in Babcock's
death. He maintained his innocence until a February 1 hearing, when he
entered a plea of "no contest". This change allowed authorities to
bypass a trial and move directly to sentencing. Prosecutors
presented an agreement that recommended 10 years of probation.
KWTX-10 in Waco, TX reports this month, Ambrozuk reinstated his
innocent plea. The judge allowed the plea change when authorities
discovered Ambrozuk had been living illegally in the US all these
years.
Now facing passport fraud charges in Texas, Ambrozuk would most
likely be deported to Canada, a probation officer testified at the
March 8 hearing. There, the US would have no jurisdiction, thus no
sentencing enforcement. The judge also felt the plea agreement was
"inappropriate".
Prosecutors later said that they did not realize that he would
not be supervised in Canada, according to America's Most Wanted
where this case has been profiled twice.
Prosecutors have since withdrawn the plea agreement. A new trial
date has been set for May 21 in Montana.
This sad and bizarre series of events began when Ambrozuk
hatched a plan to elope with Babcock. Phone calls to a friend
indicated Ambrozuk planned to ditch the rented Cessna 150 in the
Montana lake, after which he and Babcock would swim free of the
wreckage and disappear to start new lives in the US.
That was the plan... but that's not what happened. When the
plane hit the water, its nosewheel hit the water and caused the
plane to flip. Ambrozuk was able to escape, but he says Babcock was
unable to unbuckle her seat belt before the plane sank.
The teen did not report Babcock's death to authorities, instead
calling a friend to ask him to call the police. Ambrozuk told the
court last month he went to New York after the crash, changed his
name, and eventually started a software development company.