LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. (AP) — A 43-year-old St. Joseph man could face up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in a Lake of the Ozarks boating accident that killed a man.
Cletus Barsch pleaded guilty on Sept. 10 to one count of boating while intoxicated resulting in a homicide and two counts of boating while intoxicated resulting in serious physical injury.
Sentencing will be March 11.
The accident happened during the 2018 Memorial Day weekend.
Authorities said Barsch was driving a boat that struck another boat.
A passenger in the second boat, 20-year-old Alec Potthoff, of Van Meter, Iowa, suffered a serious head injury and died in August 2018 at a care facility in Des Moines, Iowa.
Barsch’s 14-year-old daughter and two other passengers on the second boat suffered minor injuries.
