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Nicholas Hanley, far right, with attorneys Charles Giesen, left, and William Ginsberg, listens to a witness speak in court Friday. Hanley was sentenced to five years in prison for a crash in October 2018 that killed Kevin Sylve, 60, and severely injured his wife, Amy. 

Dane County Circuit Judge Nicholas McNamara said that if Nicholas Hanley tells the story of how his driving after drinking killed a man and injured the man’s wife, and how he has had to live with that on his conscience but did not have to go to prison for it, he’s not sure whether that would send “the best message.”

To end the story, McNamara sentenced Hanley on Friday to five years in prison.

“There will be people heartbroken because I’m sending you to prison, and I’m sorry about that,” McNamara said. “But they are also the victims of your choices.”

McNamara sentenced Hanley to prison, followed by five years of extended supervision, for the Oct. 14, 2018, crash in the town of Sun Prairie that killed Kevin Sylve and left his wife, Amy, with disabling and permanent injuries, including a brain injury.

Hanley, 50, of Sun Prairie, as part of an agreement pleaded guilty on Aug. 1 to homicide by negligent driving, causing great bodily harm by reckless driving and fourth-offense driving with a prohibited alcohol concentration. The agreement dismissed several other charges, including homicide by drunken driving.

Kevin Sylve was trying to turn left on Highway T into a pumpkin patch when the Toyota Camry he was driving was struck broadside by Hanley’s truck, which was trying to pass Sylve’s car.

An issue in the case was whether Sylve had put on his left-turn signal, giving Hanley a warning that he was turning. Experts could not reach a conclusion either way, although an expert for Amy Sylve and her husband’s estate had claimed as part of a civil lawsuit that the turn signal was on.

That lawsuit resulted in a $5.25 million settlement.

This was the car that Kevin Sylve was driving on Oct. 14, 2018, after a truck crashed into it. Nicholas Hanley, 50, of Sun Prairie, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for the fatal crash.

Deputy District Attorney William Brown contended the truck Hanley was driving was illegally modified because it was raised too high, had engine modifications that made it more powerful, had no catalytic converter and had illegal window tint. Brown argued it should not have been on the road.

Hanley was also driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.087%, just over the legal limit for drivers, but far above the 0.02% Hanley was allowed following a third-offense drunken driving conviction. He also had used marijuana.

In addition, Brown argued, Hanley had accelerated to 68 mph in a 55-mph zone in only 700 feet after being stopped at a stop sign.

“He was flying,” Brown said. “He was absolutely flying.”

One of Hanley’s attorneys, William Ginsberg, argued that anyone who intended to pass a car as Hanley wanted to pass the Sylve car could have been going that fast. He also argued Kevin Sylve shared negligence because he also had marijuana in his system at the time and had failed to look for other traffic before he started his turn into the pumpkin patch.

If Hanley had had nothing to drink, Ginsberg argued, the crash would have been seen as an accident during a legal pass and Hanley would never have been prosecuted.

Ginsberg also argued that his review of comparable cases in recent years showed that probation was the most fitting outcome for Hanley’s case. Brown, who asked for seven years in prison, instead compared Hanley’s case to one not on Ginsberg’s list, that of Benjamin Cortes, who in 2019 was sentenced by McNamara to seven years in prison for driving recklessly, killing a pedestrian and injuring his wife on a sidewalk along South Midvale Boulevard.

McNamara rejected both comparisons and instead compared Hanley to Bruce Burnside, a Lutheran bishop McNamara sentenced in 2014 to 10 years in prison for the reckless driving death of a jogger in Sun Prairie.

Both Hanley and Burnside, McNamara said, had led positive lives in the community and had little or no criminal record. The difference, McNamara said, was that while Burnside had probably driven drunk numerous times without getting caught, Hanley had three prior drunken driving convictions, and the crash that killed Kevin Sylve was his fourth.

“To die so needlessly, so painfully, in such an aggravated way, it’s too much,” McNamara said. “It really shouldn’t happen.”

And that was even before considering the injuries Amy Sylve sustained, McNamara said, which will be with her for the rest of her life and force her to “navigate a life of disability without the person she relied on the most. It’s too much.”

Since the crash, Hanley’s supporters said, he has quit drinking, has helped others maintain their sobriety and has become more involved in the community and his church. Dozens wrote letters on Hanley’s behalf and packed the courtroom for his sentencing.

“I’m hoping today that you can understand that Nick has completely changed and has transformed his life in his discovery that he is an alcoholic,” said his wife, Michelle Hanley. “He now knows and understands from the bottom of his heart and soul that he can’t drink, and he doesn’t want to. He sincerely has remorse for what happened.”

Speaking to McNamara, Hanley said he expressed his deep remorse in a letter and said he prays for the Sylves.

“I wish this day would have come so much sooner so that people’s healing could begin and I could learn that all my actions have a ripple effect, positive and negative,” he said. “This one had many negatives.”

But Sylve’s family continues to struggle with Kevin Sylve’s death and the brain injury Amy Sylve sustained that forced her to quit working. It’s created a countdown, Amy Sylve said, to the time when, not if, she has to be placed in assisted living or a nursing home.

“Your honor, I’m broken,” she told McNamara. “Daily, I struggle to heal, to cope, and to find hope. The result of the injuries resulting from the accident have stripped me of what was most meaningful to me in my life — my husband, my ability to work, my health and a sense of normal.”

The Sylves’ daughter, Sarah Betts, was preparing for her wedding when she got word of the crash.

“I feel resentful that Mr. Hanley has gotten to spend four years of holidays with his family and that was something that was taken away from me,” she said. “I still have my mom though, and she’s never been quite the same. She’s not who she was before and I’ve come to terms with it. But it’s just another loss my family has had to face.”

Marlene Miller, a ceramic sculpture artist from Washington, Illinois, left, works on her clay sculpture design of “Jonah and the Whale” with the help of Mark Skudlarek, with Cambridge Wood-Fired Pottery, at right, in preparation for the Midwest Fire Fest at Westside Park in Cambridge, Wis., Friday, July 8, 2022. The sculpture, which will be a permanent art piece in Cambridge, will be fired in a temporary kiln at the park and revealed during the fest at 9 p.m. on July 23. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Samantha Gadzinski holds her 4-month-old Arlo, as she picks raspberries with her children Rosie, front, and Ezra, back, at the family's home in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, July 13, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Angela Burgette, of Madison, with her son, Thor, 12, at right, learns Bollywood-style dancing from Manisha Bhargava with BollyBeat during a Lakeside Kids event on the rooftop of Monona Terrace in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, July 19, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Tom Jones, Professor of Photography at UW-Madison and a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, displays a photograph of his cousin from his series called “Strong Unrelenting Spirits,” at his home, a former church, in Prairie du Sac, Wis., Tuesday, July 5, 2022. Another photo from that series by Jones is hanging in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

(From left top) Nikki Sotka, a middle and high school science teacher in Marinette, Dean Petersen, a plumbing apprentice instructor at Madison Area Technical College and Wendy Stelzer, with KEEP, Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program in Stevens Point, look on as instructor Cris Folk, front, solar consultant and retired MATC teacher, holds up a plan to install pole mounted solar panels during MATC’s STEM Educator Solar Institute at the Commercial Avenue campus in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, July 13, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Carter Aguilera, of Cottage Grove, participates in the Keg Toss Throwdown during the Monona Community Festival at Winnequah Park in Monona, Wis., Monday, July 4, 2022. Aguilera won the competition last year during the festival. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Alejandro Escalante, left, and his younger brother Leonardo test the water temperature of the fountain on Library Mall under the close watch of their parents, not pictured, on the UW-Madison campus in Madison, Wis., Friday, July 22, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Amelia Holland, 7, right, and her brother, Elliott, 5, of Cottage Grove, compete in a water challenge with help from the Monona Fire Department during the Monona Community Festival at Winnequah Park in Monona, Wis., Monday, July 4, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

(From left) Carter and Mason Sampson, 5-year-old twins, ride their matching trikes to the store with their mom, Ana, on the North Side in Madison, Wis., Thursday, July 21, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Nyelle Williams paints flowers onto the outside of the "Old Woman in a Shoe" slide at Vilas Park in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, July 12, 2022. The annual painting of the shoe is a Madison School and Community Recreation tradition. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Rachel Castillon, right, sprays water through a window under guidance from Madison Fire Department firefighter/EMT Cameron Gasaway during a fire attack rotation at CampHERO held at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, July 26, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Capitol tour guide Daina Zemliauskas shuts the Assembly Chamber doors after leading a tour group through the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, July 19, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Goodman Waves’ Yaretzy Cuamani competes in the All-City Dive Meet 11-12 girls at Goodman Pool in Madison, Wis., Monday, July 25, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

(From left) Monona’s Ashlynn Campbell, Kennadie Rossing, Talia Riemen and Mikayla McQueenie huddle up before competing in the All-City Dive Meet 11-12 girls at Goodman Pool in Madison, Wis., Monday, July 25, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Members of the Tosa Crew soccer team, of Wauwatosa, from left, Owen Schmidt, Owen Plier, London DeCarlo and Wes Adams do the "Lambeau Leap" prior to the friendly featuring FC Bayern Munich and Manchester City at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., Saturday, July 23, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

FC Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry, left, and Manchester City's Joshua Wilson-Esbrand go after the ball during a friendly at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., Saturday, July 23, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Otis Van de Camp cheers while sitting on the shoulders of his dad Tim Van de Camp during the second half of a friendly featuring FC Bayern Munich and Manchester City at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., Saturday, July 23, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Parkcrest coaches Maddie Gerhardt, left, and Sophie Bell cheer on swimmer Eddy Reaser, not pictured, in the 100-meter freestyle during the first day of swimming at the All-City Swim Meet at Ridgewood Pool in Madison, Wis., Thursday, July 28, 2022. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the All-City Swim Meet, which has grown from a half-day event with fewer than 150 swimmers, to a three-day meet with more than 2,000 competitors. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Kayakers float down Badfish Creek near Leedle Mill Road in Stoughton, Wis., Wednesday, July 20, 2022. Clark Conway, not pictured, the owner of Drift Away Paddle Company, helped launch the kayakers at Badfish Creek State Wildlife Area where they started their three-hour trip. This is Conway's seventh season offering rentals and shuttle services for trips down the lower Yahara River and Badfish Creek. "Business really got crazy after the pandemic," Conway said. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Two-time World Youth chess champion Awonder Liang, 19, in Madison, Wis. Saturday, July 2, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Members of the Forward Marching Band, including Junko Yamaguchi, right, perform for visitors to the 2022 Festival Foods Lights the Isthmus event at Breese Stevens Field in Madison, Wis. Saturday, July 2, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Visitors to the 2022 Festival Foods Lights the Isthmus event at watch a fireworks display to cap the event at Breese Stevens Field n Madison, Wis. Saturday, July 2, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

High school and middle school students enrolled in a rowing class offered through the Mendota Rowing Club carry a four person craft toward Lake Mendota during a first day of the week-long training program in Madison, Wis. Monday, July 11, 2022. The classes, which continue through the summer, offer participants the opportunity to learn the basics of rowing, teamwork and physical fitness via dry land exercises and on-the-water training. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Enjoying sunny skies and warm temperatures, a family of cousins from three different states share a group paddle board outing on the waters of Monona Bay near Brittingham Park in Madison, Wis. Monday, July 18, 2022. Pictured from left are Caroline Klessig of Madison, Gabe Zinser of Littleton, Colo., Ryan Cray of Madison, Grace Zinser of Littleton, Colo., Virginia Pendleton of St. Paul, Minn. and Scott Labot of St. Paul, Minn. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Mark Henneger, left, and Casey Healy compete in a friendly game of horseshoes during a gathering with a close group of classmates from the 1975 Madison East graduating class at Yahara Place Park in Madison, Wis. Wednesday, July 20, 2022. The group of men typically meet several times a week for a variety of activities, including bocce ball, pickleball, golf, and card playing. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Members of IBEW Local 159, including John Zwettler, foreground, and Mikek Stassi, behind, work to inspect, repair and prepare light displays for this year’s Holiday Fantasy in Lights event at the union headquarters in McFarland, Wis. Thursday, July 28, 2022. From April to November each year, a group of mostly-retired union members volunteer their time once or twice a week to check lights, weld broken components and create new features for the popular drive-through seasonal display at Olin Park. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Lena Nyhus, 10, prepares to show her shorthorn beef steer as the 2022 Dane County Fair opens at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis. Thursday, July 21, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Madisyn Tritz-Reefe of the Stoughton Trailblazers 4H club tends her poultry entries during the opening day of the 2022 Dane County Fair in Madison, Wis. Thursday, July 21, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Janiyah Denton, 9, dances during the Think Like A DJ: Varsity Program at the Theresa Terrace Neighborhood Center in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, July 27, 2022. Denton won a t-shirt in the dance competition portion of the event. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

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Ed Treleven is the courts reporter for the Wisconsin State Journal.

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The crash also left the victim's wife with permanent neurological damage.

Amy Sylve lost her husband, Kevin, in a crash with an alleged drunken driver two years ago in which she sustained a brain injury.

Nicholas J. Hanley was formally charged Thursday with homicide by drunken driving for an Oct. 14 crash that killed a Sun Prairie man.

Nicholas J. Hanley of Sun Prairie will be charged later this week with homicide by drunken driving, Assistant District Attorney William Brown said Tuesday.

The Dane County Sheriff's Office said the driver was intoxicated when he tried to pass a turning vehicle.

This was the car that Kevin Sylve was driving on Oct. 14, 2018, after a truck crashed into it. Nicholas Hanley, 50, of Sun Prairie, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for the fatal crash.

Nicholas Hanley, far right, with attorneys Charles Giesen, left, and William Ginsberg, listens to a witness speak in court Friday. Hanley was sentenced to five years in prison for a crash in October 2018 that killed Kevin Sylve, 60, and severely injured his wife, Amy. 

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