Aiken County man gets 44 years for fatal wreck

AIKEN, S.C. (AP) — An Aiken County man has been sentenced to 44 years in prison after pleading guilty to felony drunken driving for a wreck that killed two people last year.

Thirty-nine-year-old Stephen Corley of Salley was sentenced this week in Aiken.

Twenty-four-year-old Alex Bush and 22-year-old Katie Scott died after the wreck Dec. 29 on state Highway 302.

Prosecutor Strom Thurmond Jr. says Corley was trying passing a vehicle when he collided head-on with Bush. Witnesses said Corley was driving more than 75 mph in a 50-mph zone.

Thurmond says Corley’s blood alcohol level was .13 percent two hours after the wreck. South Carolina’s legal limit is .08 percent.

Corley was arrested after he was released from an Augusta, Ga., hospital.

He apologized to the victims’ families.