CLEVELAND — 52-year-old Ali Akram of Warrensville Heights will serve two years behind bars as a judge announced sentencing Tuesday afternoon for charges connected to a May crash in which local firefighter Ghadi Cole was seriously hurt.
“This is about as tragic as it gets without the taking of a life," said Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Joan Synenberg when handing down her sentence in the case.
The sentencing, which comes after Akram previously pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated vehicular assault and driving under the influence, also includes a suspension of his driver's license for 10 years.
The case dates back to May 12 when Oakwood Village police responded to the scene of a crash involving an SUV and a motorcycle at the intersection of I-271 North and Forbes Road around 11:30 p.m.
You can watch the full sentencing hearing in the video below:
As 3News previously reported, Akram was found at the scene where authorities say he told officers he was the driver of the vehicle involved in the crash.
The motorcyclist was later identified as Cole, who worked as a firefighter in Oakwood and Cleveland. Cole, who was off-duty at the time of the crash, was taken to the hospital with a fractured skull.
Prior to sentencing, Cole offered a statement to the court.
“This incident has affected me and disfigured me emotionally and physically, as well as my family and my friends," he told the judge. "When the defendant assaulted me that evening, it changed me permanently."
He said his days "are filled with pain and sadness every day."
"I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since the assault that evening, which I was riding in the community in which I served and that I frequent and where I felt safe," Cole continued. "Now that has changed the whole perspective of everything in my life. There’s no more happiness. The things that I enjoyed, I can’t enjoy anymore. The defendant, after this proceeding, will be able to get up and walk out – and I won’t. The things that we take for granted. Just to get out of bed. To walk. Go to work. The defendant can still go to work, and I can’t. The job that I’ve been at for 23 years, serving the city of Cleveland with pride and joy, I can no longer do again. I’ll never be able to get on the fire truck again, which has been over half of my life. That pain, I can’t really put into comprehensible words.”
Authorities say Akram’s BAC level registered at .154, which is nearly double the state’s legal limit of .08. Police say an empty bottle of brandy and a beer can were found in Akram's vehicle.