A man who was under the influence when he crashed his car and killed his lifelong friend was sentenced to prison time Wednesday for charges related to the crash.
Robert Rust was sentenced to five years in prison for charges of reckless homicide, criminal attempt to possess a controlled substance, driving without an operator’s license, failing to maintain required insurance, and being a persistent felony offender.
Rust was arrested in 2021 after he crashed a car he was driving. His best friend, passenger Eric Lowry, died five months later.
“This is a tragic situation,” said Rust’s attorney, Fred Peters. “(Rust) was operating a motor vehicle with best friend, his life long friend and there was no doubt he was under the influence and neither one were wearing a seat belt, and they crashed.”
Rust was originally charged with reckless homicide, first-degree possession of a controlled substance, operating a motor vehicle under the influence, driving without an operators’ license, failing to maintain insurance and being a persistent felony offender, according to court documents.
Several charges were amended down, and the DUI charge was dropped as a result of a plea deal accepted in March, court records show.
While prosecutors recommended the sentence set forth in the plea agreement, Peters requested Rust be considered for probation, and said the victim’s family did not want Rust to go to jail.
Peters said Rust has an elderly mother and disabled brother who rely on him, and said care could not continue if Rust were in prison.
“(Rust) has had trouble with controlled substances all his life and now in his later years he has a disabled brother and elderly mother he takes care of,” Peters said to a judge Wednesday. “I ask that you consider probation. His life has been on hold since this accident and he has made it his sole purpose to take care of his family who is dependent on him.”
Lowry’s family and representatives from a treatment facility wrote letters to the court asking that Rust not go to prison, and Peters asked Fayette Circuit Judge Thomas Travis to take those into consideration.
He asked the judge to not punish Rust unduly, but sufficiently.
“Eric was my best friend and it was an accident,” Rust told Travis. “I just have a lot on my shoulders right now of taking care of my brother. … I have straightened my life out since the accident and would really appreciate if you would consider one of the two options.”
Travis ruled probation would “unduly depreciate” the crime that occurred, and cited Rust’s previous criminal history involving substance use and other previous probation violations.
“A life was lost here tragically, and I feel it was more than an accident with the criminal act involved in the death and unfortunately looking back at your criminal history, it is not surprising that happened because your long history of substance use issues,” Travis said.
According to his obituary, Lowry loved University of Kentucky sports and became a successful sous chef.