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Myrtle Beach man gets 10 years in prison for fatal DUI crash

South CarolinaGDELTGDELT event5% biasedMon, Jun 15, 2026, 12:00 AM
May affectPublic Administration

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-5.0

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-8.5

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1 of 20 sentences classified as biased · Model: roberta-anno-lexical-ft-v1

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A Myrtle Beach man will serve 10 year behind bars for a fatal DUI crash.Michael Wagner, 38, of Myrtle Beach, pleaded guilty Tuesday, June 9 to felony DUI resulting in death, 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson announced.Felony DUI is considered a violent and serious offense, said assistant solicitor Brandon Lanier, who prosecuted the case.Circuit Court Judge Michael Nettles sentenced Wagner to 10 years in prison.Wagner must serve 85% before he is eligible for supervised release and he will have one strike under South Carolina's three-strike law, which makes him eligible to be sentenced to life in prison without parole should he ever be convicted of two other serious offenses.The deadly crash occurred about 1:40 p.m.on May 19, 2025 in the Myrtle Beach area.Wagner, driving with an 0.21 blood alcohol concentration, was speeding on S.C.31 southbound in a Dodge 3500 work van.He was heading home from a job when he failed to maintain his lane and struck back of the victim's sedan, causing it to flip and crash into wooded area off the side of the road near mile marker 14.Richard "Mike" Nicholson, 84, died instantly in the crash.Nicholson, of Murrells Inlet, spent 30 years working for the federal government in a variety of leadership roles, including Homeland Security and the U.S.Patent and Federal Trademark Office."...The victim int this case, Mr.Nicholson, was a public servant who dedicated his entire life to this country," Lanier said in a news release."His family is expectedly devastated by his loss.The sentence is only a slight reprieve.Our hope is that this case will serve as a reminder to those who use alcohol, and to those who sell it, that drinking and driving is never the right choice.We appreciate the Highway Patrol for their work on this case." Wagner drove away from the scene but was later found by the South Carolina Highway Patrol passed out in a Circle K parking lot with open containers in his vehicle.The crash was investigated by the SCHP Multi-disciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) and reconstructed in large part due to the dash camera of a motorist, which recorded the entire event.