American sentenced after crash in New Brunswick claims Mountie’s life

MONCTON, N.B. — A man from Pennsylvania who was driving a van that struck and killed a Mountie on a New Brunswick highway has been fined $3,000 and banned from driving for two years.

Vasiliy Meshko of Wilkes-Barre, Penn., was also placed on probation for two years.

The 31-year-old, who appeared in Moncton provincial court on Friday, pleaded guilty to driving without due care on Dec. 15.

Const. Frank Deschenes, 35, was helping two people in an SUV change a flat tire on the Trans-Canada Highway on Sept. 12 when Meshko’s cargo van plowed into his cruiser in Memramcook.

Two other people were injured and taken to hospital.

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Earlier this month, the RCMP said there was not enough evidence to proceed with charges under the Criminal Code.

Instead, Meshko was charged under the New Brunswick Motor Vehicle Act. A second charge of failing to move over was withdrawn by the Crown.

The 35-year-old Nova Scotia-based officer was known as a dedicated Mountie who worked hard to teach drivers about the need to slow down when driving past emergency vehicles.

Originally from northwest New Brunswick, Deschenes was a former member of the force’s famed Musical Ride, and was married last summer.

The Canadian Press