A man bought a $200K Corvette and hours later hit 147 mph before crashing into a couple in their 70s, then he turned down a plea deal

A Florida man who bought a new Corvette and crashed it into a Jeep hours later, killing a retired couple, has been sentenced to 47 years in prison. Scott P. March, 64, had turned down a prosecution offer of just over 23 years. The judge ended up imposing roughly double that term. March was drunk and driving the Corvette at 110 mph when it slammed into a Jeep Wrangler on A1A in Ormond Beach last November, as reported by AOL.

Thomas Lauck, 72, and Julia Ann Lauck, 73, were both ejected. He died at the scene, and she died later at a hospital. Instead of taking the deal, March entered an open plea of no contest to two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of DUI manslaughter. His blood alcohol level was 0.13, above the 0.08 legal threshold. Defense attorney John Terhune asked for 15 years, as he said his client was remorseful and had only one prior offense on his record.

Assistant State Attorney Ashley Terwilleger told the court she had not planned to make any offer. She said she changed her mind after speaking with the Laucks’ relatives, as she wanted to protect them from the emotional stress of a trial or an open plea. However, March rejected the offer, and the family sat through testimony about the couple’s final moments. Terwilleger said March had turned the high-performance Corvette into a deadly weapon and asked for 47 years.

The prosecutor says she only made the offer to spare the family

“This is one of the most egregious DUI manslaughters and vehicular homicides that I have seen,” she told the court. Circuit Judge A. Christian Miller agreed with that request and found March guilty. Testimony laid out the hours before the crash. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, March bought the Chevrolet Corvette that morning for more than $170,000. He spent part of the afternoon at a bar and grill in Daytona Beach, then revved the engine in the parking lot and headed north on A1A.

Along the way, he passed another motorist and a county ambulance in no-passing zones. The Corvette was traveling at 147 mph just 5.5 seconds before impact on a two-lane road with a 45 mph speed limit. However, the car had slowed to 110 mph when it hit the Jeep while March tried to pass in another no-passing zone. The judge also pointed to what March said afterward.

“The callousness of your statement to a witness at the scene that ‘I guess I’m going to have to buy another car,’ in looking at that scene, I just don’t understand it, Mr. March,” Miller said. The court noted an earlier DUI conviction in California as well. March apologized to both families and said he took full responsibility. He told the court his mother died in 2024, that he then had open-heart surgery, and that his wife of more than 20 years later filed for divorce.

The 64-year-old said he believes he suffered a “temporary mental breakdown” that day and asked the judge to consider that no man in his family had lived past 80. The couple’s son and niece both asked the judge for the maximum sentence, as they said they never got the chance to say goodbye. Zach Osborne and Missy Cole told the court the Laucks split their year between Florida and Ohio and were driving to the beach to watch the sunset.

State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in a press release that the punishment carried a message. “Forty-seven years in prison cannot bring them back, but it does send a clear message to drunk drivers that you will pay dearly for your criminal transgressions,” he said. March did not appear to show any reaction when the sentence was pronounced or when he was fingerprinted afterward.

March was returned to the Volusia County Branch Jail and is expected to be transferred to the Florida state prison system to begin serving the 47-year term.