Jason Skaggs Gets 34 Years

Jason Skaggs will spend the next 34 years in prison for causing a 9-car pile-up that killed three Urbana University students from China.

Wednesday, a judge sentenced Skaggs to the maximum prison term.

The victim's parents came here from China to attend the trial. They spoke to the media through an interpreter. "We will never regain the lives of our kids. All along we have felt he has been a criminal from the beginning," the parents said.

Tuesday, a jury found Skaggs guilty on three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated vehicular assault.

Prosecutors said he was driving recklessly when he caused the 9-car crash last March at Urbana and Moorefield Roads in Springfield.

Skaggs had a prior conviction for aggravated vehicular homicide stemming from a 1994 crash that killed two people.