An Alaska man found responsible for a 2024 incident that killed the passenger in the vehicle he was driving has been fined $1,000 by the Yukon Territorial Court.

Seth Jorgensen of Valdez, Alaska, pleaded guilty earlier this month to one charge of driving without due care and attention. Jorgensen, who splits his time between Alaska and Arizona, attended Wednesday’s sentencing hearing by video call.

The court heard that on Sept. 16, 2024, Jorgensen was driving from Alaska to Arizona with his friend, Knate Ostenso. Around 6:35 a.m. that day, Jorgenson drove off the Alaska Highway to the right of the Lewes River Bridge south of Whitehorse and into the Yukon River, according to the agreed statement of facts.

Jorgensen told RCMP afterward that he saw an oncoming vehicle that appeared to be driving in the middle of the blue bridge. He said he steered the truck to the right to avoid a head-on collision and ended up in the river.

After the truck hit the water, Jorgensen escaped through the driver’s side door. Ostenso never surfaced, and his body was recovered downstream nearly three weeks later.

Jorgensen was charged with careless driving under the Motor Vehicles Act, which is not a criminal charge.

The Crown and defence counsels brought a joint submission asking for the maximum fine under the charge, which is $1,000. The alternative maximum penalty of 90 days imprisonment was not deemed appropriate, according to Crown counsel Kelly McGill.

McGill noted that the maximum penalty was strengthened in 2025 — to $5,000 or six months in jail — but that wouldn’t apply to Jorgensen’s 2024 offence.

In his sentencing decision, Judge John Phelps said there were several mitigating factors, including Jorgensen’s relatively clean driving record, multiple submitted letters reporting his good character, his guilty plea and acceptance of responsibility.

There were also aggravating factors, Phelps said. Beyond the loss of life, Jorgensen and Ostenso had travelled about 900 kilometres with very little rest and, when he approached the bridge, Jorgensen was driving just over 100 kilometres per hour while towing “significant weight.” 

While defence counsel Peterson Ndlovu said earlier that speed wasn’t a factor, since Jorgensen had barely exceeded the speed limit, Phelps countered that it clearly contributed to the accident. Since 2024, the speed limit near the bridge has been lowered from 100 to 70 kilometres per hour.

Phelps told the court he felt bound by the joint submission, as the law expects judges to veer from joint submissions only in extreme circumstances.

“Without a joint submission, I may have come to a different conclusion,” Phelps said.

He imposed the fine of $1,000 plus a victim surcharge of 15 per cent.

Ostenso a family man, avid Volkswagen enthusiast

The court heard two victim impact statements, from Norine Mihajlovich, Ostenso’s wife, and Darlene Ceccarelli, Ostenso’s sister-in-law, who addressed the court remotely. 

They said Ostenso was a family man who was loyal, generous and handy. He was an avid Volkswagen enthusiast who could be relied on to operate the grill or change out a dead car battery, and he is missed by their family. Mihajlovich said she’s struggled to maintain a regular life since her husband’s death.

The court heard that Jorgensen, who is 52, is no longer able to work as a dentist due to injuries from the accident affecting the stability of his hands.

Jorgensen said he is haunted by the loss of Ostenso when he addressed the court before sentencing.

He described Ostenso as his best friend, and said he replays the events of that day every day. He said that when he was approaching the blue bridge, he “not only feared for my life and my friend’s life, but the lives of the people in the car that were in the middle of the road.”

Jorgensen described himself as a competent driver who has spent many hours driving between Alaska communities for work and home to Iowa to visit family.

He told the court he remained near the Lewes River Bridge to observe the police investigation after the accident in 2024. In a short time, he said he saw multiple RVs and one semi-truck lose their passenger side mirrors while crossing the narrow bridge. Later, he said a truck passed him on the bridge despite an oncoming semi-truck and he “almost died again on the bridge.”

“To hear that they reduced the speed limit on that bridge, I feel gladness at least — but I think there could be more done,” Jorgensen said.