Published: May 29, 2008 11:25 pm      

Driver handed jail sentence in fatal crash

EBENSBURG — A Summerhill man was sentenced Thursday to six months to two years in Cambria County Prison in the traffic death of a young Johnstown mother.

Richard Aron Gallo, 35, of the 100 block of Siding Street, was fined $500 by Judge Gerard Long. Gallo was ordered to report to the jail June 16 to begin his sentence.

He was the driver of a minivan that went out of control and crashed into a ditch Aug. 16, 2006, at WPA Road and Locust Street in Adams Township.

A front-seat passenger, 21-year-old Bridget Ann McMahon, was killed. McMahon, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown against the dashboard and through the windshield.

Her daughter, Madison, who will be 4 in June, was not with her at the time.

Gallo was injured.

In December, he pleaded guilty to involuntary man-slaughter in a plea bargain in which vehicular homicide charges were dropped by prosecutors. He also was charged with driving at an unsafe speed and failing to stop at a stop sign.

After Thursday’s hearing, Gallo spent about 15 minutes in a courthouse hallway talking with Deborah McMahon of Johnstown, the victim’s mother.

He told Mrs. McMahon, “I’m sorry about this,” as the two embraced.

The still-grieving mother said that her daughter, who worked at a gas station in the Benscreek area, was an outgoing person who was “willing to do anything for anybody.”

Mrs. McMahon said both she and her daughter were single moms and were very close.