BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — A Florida man found guilty of distracted driving that resulted in a crash and the death of a 9-year-old boy was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Thursday.
Gregory Andriotis, 40, was charged with a count of vehicular homicide and three counts of reckless driving for the 2016 crash that killed 9-year-old Logan Scherer, records show.
The crash also seriously injured Logan's parents, Jordan and Brooke Scherer, and his sister in the crash.
The family was traveling out of town for a trip when they were involved in the crash that killed Logan in September 2016. Authorities said they were a victim of distracted driving.
According to a crash report, the Scherer family's SUV was rear-ended on Interstate 75 by Andriotis who, investigators say, was using his phone while driving. Investigators asserted Andriotis was surfing the web, installing phone apps and possibly even making a credit card payment at the time of the crash.
It took prosecutors more than a year to charge Andriotis with vehicular homicide because of Florida's law against distracted driving.
Since the death of 9-year-old Logan, his parents created the Living for Logan Foundation. It's a non-profit with a goal to eliminate distracted driving through education and legislation.
Following the guilty verdict, a letter from the family on the Living For Logan Facebook page reads, in part, "Jordan and I have yet to fully process the monumental nature of the situation, as well as the historical precedent we—LOGAN!—just created when it comes to distracted driving."