In June 2002, motorcycle builder Billy Lane of Melbourne Beach was on top of the world.
He and his team of “gearheads” sold custom-built motorcycles at $30,000 to $40,000 a pop out of his well-established shop, Choppers Inc., on U.S. 1 in Melbourne. The Discovery Channel's motorcycle-themed reality competition series “Monster Garage” had just featured Lane on the show's first installment. He was invited as a featured guest to motorcycle shows and festivals all over Florida and beyond.
Now, the 39-year-old Lane is facing up to nine years in prison on a single felony charge of vehicular homicide in connection with a Labor Day 2006 car crash that left a Melbourne Beach man — also a motorcyclist — dead.
After several delays, Lane is expected in court Tuesday morning to change his not guilty plea. He would then be sentenced at 9 a.m. Aug. 14.
“We did get the written plea agreement in,” defense attorney Greg Eisenmenger told FLORIDA TODAY. “Based on my review of it, I don't anticipate any problems. I anticipate we are good to go Tuesday.”
Lane was charged two years ago with one count of DUI manslaughter in connection with the 2006 traffic accident in which Sebastian Inlet park ranger Gerald Morelock, 56, died.
Police said Lane's blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when he crossed a double yellow line to pass slow traffic on State Road A1A south of Melbourne Beach. He crashed his Dodge pickup head on into Morelock's small Yamaha motorcycle on Sept. 4, 2006, police said.
In light of ongoing legal discussions over the permissibility of blood evidence at trial, prosecutors in late December added an alternative charge of vehicular homicide, which requires the state to prove that Lane was driving recklessly but does not include the drug or alcohol element needed to prove DUI manslaughter.
Both charges are second-degree felonies, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
But under the terms of the plea deal, Eisenmenger said prosecutors will drop the DUI manslaughter charge. Instead, they will seek a nine-year prison term for the vehicular homicide charge, a term Lane is eligible for under state sentencing guidelines when his prior criminal record is considered.
Eisenmenger will seek a sentence that calls for no time in prison.
“We believe there are mitigating factors in this case. . . . And we're going to be presenting those to the court at sentencing,” he said.Since the crash, Lane's public persona has suffered.
A message on his motorcycle shop's Web site says the shop is closed to the public, though merchandise is available for purchase online. Court records indicate that Lane's Melbourne Beach home is going through foreclosure.
Lane reached a confidential out-of-court settlement on a wrongful death suit filed by Morelock's family. Also, records show that Erin Derrick, a 22-year-old woman who was in the car with Lane at the time of the crash, is suing him for injuries she says have rendered her unable to work.
Most people contacted by FLORIDA TODAY declined to comment, but several observers from the motorcycle community said the case has hardly tarnished Lane's celebrity.
Mike Odom, a Melbourne motorcycle photographer who blogs about the case and has attended all but one hearing, said Lane's booth at Biketoberfest 2007 in Daytona Beach attracted a long line, so he decided to informally poll 10 people in line.
“Out of those 10, 50 percent were not aware of what happened, and the other 50 percent were aware but didn't care,” Odom said.
On his blog, Odom said, a lot of reader comments have called for prison time. But there also is a sizeable number of people who want to see a “positive outcome,” such as having Lane build and donate a motorcycle in Morelock's name or do public service announcements about the dangers of drunken driving, Odom said.
“He has enough of a following that people would listen to him,” he said.Like workers at most local businesses that sell motorcycles, Mike Marconi, general manager at Champions Honda in Cocoa, said Lane's custom motorcycle market and the “average Joe” market Marconi caters to are “entirely different.””So most of our customers, they don't talk about it, and I'd guarantee a lot of our customers don't know who Billy Lane is,” Marconi said.Asked to offer his own opinion of the case, he said: “I don't really have a comment. I think the media likes to play it up because he's a known figure. If my parts manager got arrested for the same thing, I don't think we'd be talking about it.”
