LARNED —  A Pawnee County judge ruled a Larned man convicted of two counts of vehicular homicide will have to pay restitution for burial expenses, serve 12 months on house arrest, serve 24 months probation and work 1,000 hours of community service. Buckley entered a guilty plea to the charges November 30, 2011.
Bret D. Buckley, 25 of Larned, by sentenced for two counts of vehicular homicide by Pawnee County Magistrate Judge Julie Cowell, who granted the defendant’s request for house arrest for a period of 12 months. 
Under the court’s ruling, Buckley will be confined to the assisted living facility and submit to electronic monitoring at his expense.  He is only authorized to leave the facility to do grocery shopping one time per week and to attend appointments associated with his drug and mental treatment plan.  The court directed the defendant is not to have any personal access to telephone, cellular or Internet services and shall be limited to one hour personal contact with his family per week.
Following the 12 months of house arrest, Buckley will be placed on 24 months probation with Court Services where he will be required to complete 1,000 hours of community service.
The charges stem from the November 23, 2010, traffic accident involving two vehicles on a rural road north of Larned in which Buckley failed to yield the right-of-way driving a 1992 Honda Civic.
Two passengers in Buckley’s vehicle, Matthew Hackerott and Miranda Gilliland, died as a result of injuries they sustained in the incident. Hackerott was 28 and Gilliland was 20 at the time. The other driver who was not injured was Brian Blide of Larned, who was driving a 2009 F150 pickup.
Several of the victims’ family members gave emotional statements at the sentencing hearing on how the accident has affected their lives. 
The court also received a statement from the defendant’s employer is support of the defendant’s request for house arrest or work release. The employer advised the xourt the defendant has been employed as a live-in cook and maintenance worker at an area assisted living facility for the past year. 
Following the statements, the court sentenced the defendant to the maximum sentence of 12 months in the county jail on each count to run consecutively and ordered the pay restitution to victims’ families for burial expenses. The court then granted the defendant’s request for house arrest for a period of 12 months.