“We are at the end of the road,” Circuit Judge Steven Alm told Carl Cornelle Jr. today in sentencing him to 10 years in prison for the 1999 traffic death of Arlene Miske.

Cornelle was high on drugs and alcohol when he drove his vehicle head-on into Miske’s on Sand Island, killing the 65-year-old grandmother.
He was convicted in 2001 of negligent homicide and sentenced to a year in prison and five years of probation, but has repeatedly violated the terms of probation since then.
Relatives and friends of Miske reacted with tears and smiles of gratitude when Alm pronounced sentence.
“He’s never paid for his crime,” Miske’s niece, Genette Simpkins, told Alm, noting that she and others have come to court five different times to argue that Cornelle’s probation be revoked because he failed to complete treatment programs and tested positive for illicit substances.
“Arlene never got a second chance. He’s gotten five,” she said.
Miske’s son, Gary Miske, said his mother “held us all together. She was the pillar of our family.”
Granddaughter Mary Anne Beatty said the family “has fought for 10 years for justice.”
She said she is “so relieved that Judge Alm finally took the crime seriously.”
Alm is new to the case this year and was not involved in earlier court decisions about Cornelle’s punishment.
Cornelle apologized to Miske’s family and to Alm and asked for another chance to enter and complete a treatment program.
“I’m very sorry that this had to happen to your family,” he said.
“I really do want to give up drugs and alcohol from the bottom of my heart. I’m too old for this,” he said.
Alm told him, ‘You have been given numerous chances over the years. Time is up.”
He said that Miske was not killed in “a traffic accident.”
“This was a collision. It was avoidable,” Alm continued.
“You made a decision to get high, get drunk and drive,” Alm continued.
“We are all responsible for our actions. You killed Arlene Miske.”