After running over and killing a Hawaii Pacific University student, Dominic Franklyn filed a false insurance claim to try to raise thousands for a foundation in his victim’s name, his attorney said.
Franklyn, 31, a former Navy officer, was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for failing to render aid to Mariah Danforth-Moore, who was killed in a Kamehameha Highway crosswalk in Kaneohe on Nov. 20, 2011.
In June 2013 Franklyn purchased auto insurance for a 2009 Dodge pickup that was already damaged and filed a claim for more than $3,000, saying he had hit a pole, according to the Insurance Division of the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.
Instead of paying Franklyn, the insurance company notified state officials, who charged Franklyn with insurance fraud and attempted theft.
Defense attorney Richard Hoke said Franklyn filed paperwork to set up the foundation to prevent more crashes in the area and wanted the money to help build an overpass.
He said Franklyn’s judgment was impaired because he sustained a severe mental disorder in the crash and has been diagnosed as having severe guilt, remorse and survivor’s grief.
"It’s this type of a mindset that is thinking about doing a good thing without really thinking through what he’s doing in order to get the seed money," he said. "I don’t think the family of Mariah would want that type of money to build something like this."
Franklyn pleaded no contest to insurance fraud and attempted theft and was sentenced Friday to two five-year terms to run at the same time as his 10 years for fleeing the scene.
Danforth-Moore, of Oneida, Wis., was in a crosswalk on Kamehameha Highway when she was struck by a car. The driver continued without stopping, and Franklyn turned himself in two days later.