FINNEY COUNTY, KS. – A Kansas man has been sentenced after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide in connection with a 2023 crash that claimed the life of a Garden City teenager.
Craig William Potts, 37, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 18 months of supervised probation, according to the Finney County Attorney’s office. He had previously pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide, classified as a class A person misdemeanor, for the death of 16-year-old Cassandra K. Linder.
The sentence, handed down by Honorable Judge Rebecca Faurot, includes a 12-month jail term for Potts, which was suspended. He will instead serve 18 months of supervised probation under standard conditions. A mandatory 30 days of jail time must be served as a condition of his probation; Judge Faurot permitted this to be served in two separate 15-day blocks within the next three months.
Furthermore, Potts is required to pay all court costs and probation fees and must immediately surrender his Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). The judge noted that due to an ongoing civil lawsuit, any restitution owed will be determined by the civil court presiding over that case.
The conviction stems from a tragic head-on collision that occurred shortly after 4 p.m. on March 13, 2023. According to the Kansas Highway Patrol report from that day, Potts was driving a 2017 Peterbilt semi eastbound on U.S. Highway 50, just east of North Campus Drive in Finney County.
The KHP reported that Potts’ semi traveled left of the center line and collided head-on with the westbound 2013 Fiat 500 driven by Linder. Both vehicles came to rest north of the highway.
Emergency medical services transported both drivers to St. Catherine Hospital. Tragically, Linder was pronounced deceased at the hospital. The KHP report noted that she was properly restrained at the time of the crash.
