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Pasco driver gets three-year prison term in death of friend

 
Ron Hakeem Richards, right, was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by six years of probation. 
Ron Hakeem Richards, right, was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by six years of probation. 
Published Aug. 3, 2016

NEW PORT RICHEY — Ron Hakeem Richards stood in the parking lot of the West Pasco Judicial Center before his sentencing Tuesday. He wore a long-sleeve black top and khaki pants. Family members and friends circled around him, crying.

A man told Richards he would "learn from this."

Inside the courthouse, rows of people wore white T-shirts that said, in blue ink: "Became an Angel on Nov. 16th, 2013. RIP. 'Papi Squad.' "

It has been almost three years since Richards drove himself and a friend, Joshua Graciani, home from a night out in Ybor City.

Near the intersection of State Road 54 and Oakstead Boulevard in central Pasco County, the Florida Highway Patrol said, Richards lost control of the car, which overturned multiple times.

Graciani, of Land O'Lakes, died. Richards, of Lutz, survived, and was later charged with vehicular homicide. Both were 19 at the time.

On Tuesday, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa sentenced Richards to three years in prison followed by six years of probation.

Richards, now 22, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide three weeks ago. His plea deal also stipulates that after prison, his driver's licence will be suspended for three years, he will perform 10 hours of community service per month while on probation, and on the weekend closest to the anniversary of the crash on each year of his probation, he will spend 48 hours in the Pasco County jail.

Noel Ramos read a statement from Graciani's parents, Felix and Lizette Graciani, during the sentencing hearing.

"Joshua had a future in front of him," the statement said, adding that, after graduating from Sunlake High School, Graciani pursued firefighter training and worked at a nearby day care. "The sentence for this man will in no way amount to the life sentence we have been given. It will not bring back our son."

The two young men played football together at Sunlake High. On a weekend night in November after their senior year, they went out for a night in Ybor City. They both had "very low" levels of alcohol in their blood at the time of the crash, said Randall Grantham, Richards' attorney.

After the crash, the lawyer said, Richards has repeatedly expressed that he wished it "could have been me instead." He got a full-sleeve tattoo of a cross, Graciani's name, his football nickname, "Papi Squad," and his football jersey number, 42.

"Regardless of what the Graciani family thinks," Grantham said, "he's very remorseful and torn."

Outside the courtroom, Graciani's father seemed relieved.

"Finally, we got justice," Felix Graciani said. "He should have gotten more, but we just wanted it to be over with."

Contact Hannah Alani at halani@tampabay.com or (813) 909-4617. Follow @hannahalani.