Drunken boater gets year in jail for deadly crash

CHESAPEAKE

Ray Ussery sat feet away from the man who accidentally killed his son and pleaded for a Circuit Court judge to show that man mercy.

Ussery, of Thomaston, Ga., described how he had known Kurt J. Riffey, 46, of Chesapeake for 30 years. How Riffey attended the wedding of the son, Bobby Ray Ussery of Virginia Beach. How Bobby and Kurt were more than friends.

"They were as close as brothers," Ray Ussery said. "It came that I felt Kurt was one of my own. We had a bedroom in our house we called 'Kurt's room.' "

Chief Judge V. Thomas Forehand Jr. said he appreciated how the victim's family could absolve Riffey of moral and even legal responsibility but said the court had to deal with his criminal responsibility.

With that, for boating while intoxicated and involuntary manslaughter for a crash on the Elizabeth River on Aug. 2, 2008, that killed Ussery, 45, Forehand sentenced Riffey on Monday to a year in jail, with alcohol counseling, and a $350 fine. He suspended 10 years' imprisonment and his boating privileges indefinitely.

"You were a drunken guided missile on that river that night," Forehand told Riffey.

Deputies led Riffey into custody as family and friends cried in the crowded courtroom. Forehand said Riffey might be a candidate later for electronic home monitoring.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jason Barlow asked for some incarceration, even if just on weekends.

"Those two young men were not the only people who were on the water that night," he said. "It was akin to playing Russian roulette with a bunch of people who didn't know they were playing."

Hugh Black III, Riffey's attorney, noted how witnesses said Riffey was a changed man.

"Mr. Riffey has to live in his own personal prison for the rest of his life," Black said. "This was a tragedy all the way around."

Forehand convicted Riffey after an Aug. 30 trial. On Monday, Riffey repeatedly accepted blame.

"It's my fault," he said. "I should never have done it."

Matthew Bowers, (757) 222-5221,matthew.bowers@pilotonline.com