The widow of a man killed in a traffic accident thanked a Lancaster County judge Tuesday "for respecting my family's wishes."

The family's wish?

That the driver who caused the fatal accident, Donald Ricci, 48, of Willow Street, not be sent to prison.

Instead, Judge Howard Knisely imposed a sentence of 90 days house arrest, followed by 4  1/2 years probation and 100 hours of community service for the charge of homicide by vehicle.

Ricci apologized for the November 2008 traffic accident, which happened while he was hauling an oversized corn shredder on Route 741 through Paradise Township as a favor for a friend.

The shredder, which extended two feet into the other lane, clipped an oncoming car, driven by Richard H. Symons, 78, of Wilmington, Del.

Symons was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. His wife, Anne, a passenger in the car, was not hurt.

Ricci turned to the Symons family Tuesday in court, apologized and said he had read all the letters they had written about their husband, father and grandfather.

"I wish I could be half the person he was," Ricci said.

"The forgiveness and support you have shown me," Ricci continued, "it's hard for me to understand. I can't even forgive myself."

Before sentence was imposed, the Symons' son, David, stood in court Tuesday to address Ricci.

"I forgive you, and I know my family forgives you," the younger Symons told Ricci, "and I hope you can forgive yourself."

"How can that be?" Knisely asked David Symons.

"It wasn't a malicious act," Symons told the judge. "My family has certain values, and intrinsic in that is forgiveness."

"Mr. Ricci is punishing himself certainly more than we or the system ever could," Symons said.

In May, Ricci pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle, reckless driving and other traffic offenses.

Defense attorney Tamara Hogan told Knisely that after the court proceeding she had instructed her client not to speak to the victim's family until after sentencing.

But when she left the courtroom and was in a hallway, Hogan said, the Symons family was expressing forgiveness to an overwrought Ricci.

As a child, Hogan said, "I learned about forgiveness, but I never saw it until that day. I just hope Don can forgive himself."

The defense attorney told the judge of Ricci's sad past, including being abandoned when he was in ninth grade, left homeless to live on the streets.

But Ricci overcame that hardship, and several more that followed, she said, each time fighting to rise above financial, physical and emotional pain.

Prior to the accident in November 2008, Hogan said, Ricci was living on monthly disability checks because of a back injury, which he supplemented by helping his Amish neighbors.

With his monthly $1,400 check, Hogan said, Ricci supports his girlfriend and her three sons, giving them all a first-time experience at having a stable home life.

"I do understand the severity of my acts," Ricci told the judge, adding that "not a day goes by" that he does not think of the accident.

Ricci said he agreed to haul the farm machinery that night, quickly realizing that it was unsafe, but unsure how to get it off the road.

District Attorney Christine Wilson said that while the accident was an unintentional act, Ricci knew it was dangerous because he was flashing his lights at oncoming cars, trying to warn them of his presence.

Ricci, however, had no emergency lights, no flags and no escort car warning other motorists of the oversized vehicle, Wilson said.

"The only person I have to blame is myself," Ricci said.

jkelley@lnpnews.com

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