A Florida man recently convicted of vehicular homicide in a distracted driving case that led to new texting and driving laws in our statewas given the maximum sentence on Thursday.
Investigative reporter Katie Lagrone was in the courtroom for the sentencing that the young victim’s family has been waiting nearly seven years for. It’s the first texting and driving case to go to trial in the state.
Gregory Andriotis, 40, will spend 30 years in prison for a deadly crash he caused after using his cell phone behind the wheel. The crash killed 9-year-old Logan Scherer and seriously injured his parents and his little sister.
Brooke Scherer
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The judge called his actions a conscious disregard for life, saying, “it’s a choice not to pay attention.”
Hours before the sentencing in Hernando County on Thursday, Andriotis, a husband and father of two, spoke publicly for the first time since the 2016 crash. He apologized to Brooke and Jordan Scherer for causing the wreck that killed their little boy instantly.
“I wish more than anything that I could change what happened that day. I would gladly trade places with him if it meant he would live,” Andriotis said. “Logan deserved to live a full life. I took that away from him and I took him away from you.”
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Andriotis slammed into the back of the family’s SUV while they were parked in traffic on I-75 near Brooksville. Investigators determined he was going nearly 80 miles per hour before impact. The force pushed six cars some 76 feet.
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But for the Scherers, whose tragedy helped inspire Florida’s current texting and driving law, Andriotis’ courtroom apology doesn’t change what they’ve lost.
“We cannot sit idly by and diminish the life of our young son…we won’t stand for it,” Jordan Scherer said.
While the case represents the first cell phone-related distracted driving crash case to go to trial in Florida, the jury’s guilty verdict and vehicular homicide charge are also considered a nationwide first — creating a new legal precedent for deadly crashes caused by cell phone-related distracted drivers.
I-Team Investigations
Florida man found guilty in distracted driving case that killed 9-year-old boy
9:22 AM, May 03, 2023
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“Most of the families, the person walks away. Sometimes they even keep their driver’s license. We need serious consequences, just like drunk driving and distracted driving is killing families,” said Jennifer Smith with stopdistractions.org.
For the Scherers, Thursday’s sentencing brought tears and peace.
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“It’s surreal, it’s surreal. I finally took a breath for the first time in seven years,” Brooke Scherer said.
It’s the beginning of a new phase of a movement they all hope Logan will be proud of.
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“This will help. That’s what we set out to do; that’s what we’re doing, right? And Logan guided our way and he will continue to guide the way for many, many others,” Brooke said.
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“I know that he will be proud to see that we worked hard, that it’s happened. I know he would be really happy,” Logan’s sister Mallory said.
The 30-year maximum sentence includes 15 years for Logan’s death and another five years for each of the three reckless driving charges that caused Logan’s parents and his younger sister to sustain serious injuries in the crash.
Sheriff Judd calls Florida law banning texting and driving ‘useless,’ but is it?
SpaceX launched 21 Starlink internet satellites from Florida’s Space Coast early Monday morning (Dec. 23) and landed the returning rocket on a ship at sea.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft — 13 of which can beam service directly to cellphones — lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida today at 12:35 a.m. EDT (0535 GMT).
The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth as planned, touching down in the Atlantic Ocean about eight minutes after launch on the SpaceX droneship “Just Read the Instructions.”
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The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rests on the deck of a droneship after launching 21 Starlink internet satellites to orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 23, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX)
It was the 15th liftoff and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Eight of those flights have been Starlink missions.
The Falcon 9’s upper stage continued hauling the 21 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, where they will be deployed about 65 minutes after launch.
Starlink satellite train: how to see and track it in the night sky
Monday morning’s Starlink launch was the 129th Falcon 9 mission of 2024. About two-thirds of those flights have been devoted to building out the Starlink broadband megaconstellation, which current consists of more than 6,800 active satellites.
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
Florida State football had an embarrassing 2024 campaign where it finished with a 2-10 record. This is not the expectation of what the Seminoles are all about.
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Head football coach Mike Norvell understood the urgency as he could not allow the program to snowball into a laughing stock after a productive 13-1 season in 2023. Norvell was heading into a pivotal sixth season with his job on the line.
As a result, he went out and hired a ton of new coaches on his staff, including Gus Malzahn, Tim Harris Jr., Herb Hand, Tony White, Terrance Knighton, and Evan Cooper. This was uncharted territory for Norvell since he had never had to fire multiple coaches like that.
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Nonetheless, we were wondering how the Seminoles’ 2025 recruiting class would play out with new coaches as well as the struggling year in 2024.
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The recruiting class did well, and it finished with the 20th-best in the 247Sports Composite rankings (prospects can still sign in February). In this article, I want to highlight three of the most underrated signees from Florida State’s 2025 recruiting class.
The 2024 U.S. Amateur runner-up is transferring to Florida, he announced Saturday. The sophomore at Iowa, whose hometown is Naples, Florida, entered the transfer portal earlier this month, and he made his decision to join coach J.C. Deacon and the 2023 national champions come next fall.
Because of NCAA rules, Kent won’t be eligible to compete for Florida until the 2025-26 season, but he can finish his sophomore year with the Hawkeyes. This fall, he placed in the top 13 all four tournaments, his best finish being a T-5 at the Fighting Irish Classic.
And, of course, he has a tee time at Augusta National Golf Club in the spring.
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Kent will essentially be the fourth member of Florida’s 2025 signing class, which ranked second in the country on signing day. He’ll join a talented roster that includes Parker Bell, Mathew Kress and Jack Turner, though with new NCAA roster limits coming, there’s bound to be some unprecedented roster turnover in college golf before the start of the 2025-26 season.
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