A former Cumberland County corrections officer who fell asleep at the wheel and caused a crash that killed a 9-year-old girl will not serve any prison time.
A judge on Monday handed down a six-year suspended sentence as well as four years of probation to Kenneth Morang, according to the Portland Press Herald.
Morang also was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service, the Press Herald reported. He cannot drive a car nor have contact with the family of 9-year-old Raelynn Bell while on probation.
On July 21, 2019, Morang was driving his Ford F-150 pickup truck home after working a 16-hour shift at the Cumberland County Jail when he fell asleep at the wheel. He then rear-ended the Bell family’s Honda Pilot at the intersection of Route 25 and Dow Road in Gorham, pushing the SUV into oncoming traffic.
Bell, who was declared legally dead and placed on life support, died from a traumatic brain injury three days after the crash.
Morang had worked 88 hours at the jail between July 14 and 21, with just a day off. He had clocked out only 30 minutes before the crash.
Morang was found guilty in October 2022 of manslaughter in Bell’s death.
