VALPARAISO — A Tinley Park, Ill., man who was supposed to be sentenced Tuesday for killing another man in a Porter County drunken driving accident did not show.
Michael Michalski, 55, is under medical supervision after being hospitalized for six days earlier this month for a blood clot in his leg, according to his attorney Larry Rogers.
Michalski faces up to four years in prison and up to four additional years on probation as part of his Aug. 4 plea to the felony of operating while intoxicated with an alcohol level more than 0.08 percent and causing a death.
The sentencing was already delayed from Sept. 29 while Rogers looked into in-home detention with Will County, Ill.
Michalski was originally charged with four felonies for the October 2008 accident near Chesterton on Interstate 94.
He had a blood alcohol level of 0.11 percent, more than the 0.08 percent legal limit, when he crashed into Ben Larson, 30, of Wisconsin. That pushed Larson’s car into the back of a semi-truck.
Michalski’s license was suspended last November.
, but he was ticketed twice afterward for driving without it.
In January, Bennett tried to get Michalski’s bond revoked for that, but because the license suspension was administrative, not court ordered, Michalski’s bond was continued.
However, Harper made the revocation court-ordered in February.
For Michalski’s Dec. 15 sentencing, Harper is requiring him to bring medical verification of his treatments.
“He needs to be here whatever shape he’s in next time,” she said.