AUBURN — An Auburn man who had been driving drugged pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony charges stemming from a 2019 head-on crash in Lewiston that left a college student critically injured.
Dalton Farrington Androscoggin County Jail photo
Dalton Farrington, 28, of 483 Hotel Road admitted in Androscoggin County Superior Court to aggravated assault, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated operating under the influence of drugs and reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon.
In a plea deal, Farrington agreed to a sentence on the assault charge of 10 years, with all but four years suspended, plus three years of probation. He also agreed to concurrent sentences of six months and five months, respectively, on the other charges.
Prosecutors dismissed three related charges.
He is expected to be sentenced next month. He remained in Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn on Wednesday in lieu of $25,000 cash bail.
Prosecutors said Farrington had been intoxicated on morphine and fentanyl when his truck veered into oncoming traffic on Lisbon Street on Aug. 16, 2019, at about 5:30 p.m.
Lewiston resident Alesha Gregoire, who was 20 years old at the time of the crash, had been driving a Subaru in the opposite direction and tried to avoid the truck by turning into the center turning lane. But Farrington also sought to correct his error by turning back toward his lane.
Police later found syringes and fentanyl in Farrington’s backpack in the truck cab. A lab detected morphine and fentanyl in his urine.
Several witnesses told police they had seen the truck, which was carrying another vehicle, driven by Farrington, veering fully into the wrong lane before the crash. One motorist shot video of the erratic driving.
Gregoire had been listed in critical condition and had to breathe through a tube after she was rushed to a nearby hospital.
It had taken rescue crews more than 45 minutes to free her from the wreckage.
She suffered fractured leg bones, a broken upper arm and two broken lower arms and underwent three surgeries.
A student at Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, she was unable to return to school for a year in order to heal from injuries and undergo treatments.
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