WHEELING — Cory Sipos, the driver in the car crash that resulted in the death of Wheeling Park High School student Devin Sovinsky in the summer of 2023, pleaded guilty to the charge of DUI causing death on Nov. 18, according to Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney Steven Dragisich.

Dragisich said the “typical sentence” for the offense of DUI causing death is no less than three to no more than 15 years in prison. Dragisich said a pre-sentence investigation is currently being conducted.

Once the pre-sentence investigation is completed, First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Jason Cuomo will set a date for the sentence to be delivered in court. Dragisich estimated this date would be before Christmas or shortly after the holiday.

Sipos originally pleaded not guilty to the counts of driving under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances or drugs causing death and negligent homicide during his arraignment on Friday, Jan. 19. The three-day trial for the case was set to take place in the Ohio County Courthouse this week.

“We were preparing to go to trial,” Dragisich said regarding Sipos’s plea. “We had discussed a possible resolution before, but anticipated going to trial.”

Sipos pleaded guilty to DUI causing death in front of Cuomo in the Brooke County Courthouse on Nov. 18. Sipos’s sentencing will take place in the Ohio County Courthouse.

The case is being handled by Dragisich, who the Prosecutor’s Institute has appointed as the special prosecutor. The prosecuting attorney cited a conflict of Sipos’s grandfather being an Ohio County house arrest officer as the reason the case was transferred to the Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office.

“We agreed for Sipos to plead at the Brooke County Courthouse even though the case is in Ohio County,” Dragisich said. “That’s where the judge was at the time, and that’s when it was the easiest for everybody to get together at the Brooke County Courthouse. The sentencing will take place in Ohio County.”

The crash occurred along Bethany Pike in the early morning of July 18, 2023. According to State Police crime lab analysis of a blood sample from Sipos, who was 18 years old at the time of the crash, he allegedly had a blood alcohol content of .116 during the crash.

Sovinsky was found unresponsive by first responders to the crash. They administered aid, and he was transported to WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital. Sovinsky was pronounced dead at 4:05 a.m.