A judge has upheld the two-year prison sentence for a 20-year-old eastern Iowa man in the 2011 traffic death of a friend, but Zachary Swenka will remain free on bond as he appeals to the Iowa Supreme Court.
Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that Swenka, of North Liberty, appeared Monday in Johnson County District Court in an unsuccessful plea for his sentence to be lightened.
Swenka was sentenced in October for causing the Oct. 17, 2011, crash that killed his passenger and friend, 14-year-old Mackenzie Lown.
Prosecutors say Swenka was driving between 99 mph and 103 mph when he lost control on a Highway 6 curve and crashing into a van. But his lawyer says an independent investigator found Swenka's speed to be between 69 mph and 77 mph.