Plea Deal in Mystery Priest Crash

(NEW LONDON)—There is a plea agreement in a DUI related crash on Missouri 19 that gained national attention. As part of the agreement, Aaron Smith pleads guilty and will spend 120 days in a Missouri state prison drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. The case will be reviewed by Circuit Judge David Mobley after Smith completes the program. A status hearing is set for January 8. Smith is on home confinement until sentencing.

Smith’s car collided with a car driven by 20 year old Katie Lentz of Quincy on August 4. A priest later identified the Reverend Patrick Dowling of the Jefferson City Diocese prayed with Lentz and rescue workers as she was being freed from the wreckage.