MOORESVILLE, N.C. (BRAIN) — The driver who struck and killed First Flight Bicycles' owner Jeff Archer last July has pleaded guilty to driving while impaired and felony death by vehicle and was sentenced on Friday to 3 1/2 to 5 years in prison.
Archer, 52, was known nationally for his mountain bike history columns in Dirt Rag, and for his mountain bike museum and website, the Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology (MOMBAT). He was walking across a street in Mooresville on his way to a vintage car event when he was struck by a car driven by Claydon Laural Turner on July 20.
According to the Statesville Record & Landmark website, prosecutors said at least five substances, including methamphetamine, showed up on Turner's toxicology report.
According to the local paper, Archer's father, Carl Archer, was disappointed with the length of Turner's sentence.
"We believe that (taking) a life should be worth far more than either a six-year or an eight-year sentence behind bars," the paper quoted Carl Archer saying at the hearing. "... Jeff, on the other hand, will never see the light of day, as he is gone forever."
Archer was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame posthumously last year. At the North American Handmade Bicycle Show this weekend, Archer was honored with a moment of silence. Archer had been a judge for the NAHBS awards in the past and was highly regarded in the frame building community. Archer had purchased the historic Mountain Goat bicycles brand from its founder, Jeff Lindsey, and returned the line to production.
