Nanticoke man sentenced for drugged-driving crash that hurt 2 in Rice Township

Dec. 08--WILKES-BARRE -- A Nanticoke man apologized Friday for causing a head-on crash that seriously injured two people when he overdosed on a prescription medication.

"I'm sorry for what I did, it was dumb," Ryan William Hules, 36, of East Grant Street, said at his sentencing hearing.

Hules' lawyer, Robert Levant, said Hules voluntarily committed himself to a drug and alcohol treatment program, and obtained employment soon after he was discharged from a prior job.

Judge David W. Lupas sentenced Hules to three years in the county's Intermediate Punishment Program with the first year on house arrest and electronic monitoring.

The defendant was behind the wheel of a Honda Civic driving erratically and weaving into oncoming traffic when he crashed into a Dodge Ram pickup on Nuangola Road near Gay Avenue in Rice Township on July 8, 2017.

The pickup driver, Paul Ashford, suffered abdominal injuries; a juvenile female passenger suffered a fractured sternum and broken right foot.

Hules was trapped in the wrecked Honda and had to be extricated, court records state.

As firefighters removed Hules from the wreckage, an empty pill bottle fell from his body.

Two witnesses told Rice Township police that Hules was driving erratically on Nuangola Road prior to the crash.

Hules' girlfriend, Holly Singer, told police Hules' license was suspended and the Honda had no insurance.

A medical report from Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center indicated Hules suffered a "narcotic overdose."

He told police he was prescribed Tramadol due to a finger laceration and was instructed to take one or two capsules for pain per day. Hules claimed he took four tablets prior to the crash, records say.

Hules did not remember driving to Rice Township after getting gasoline at a station in Nanticoke, authorities report.

He pleaded guilty Sept. 7 to aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence and driving under the influence of a controlled substance. Prosecutors withdrew a second count of aggravated assault while DUI and driving with a suspended license.

Ashford and the juvenile did not appear in court prior to Hules being sentenced.

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