OGDEN, Utah (KSL) — The man convicted in the 2024 accident in the Ogden Canyon that killed two people after a bulldozer slid from the bed of his truck onto the victims’ vehicle has been handed the most severe sentence possible in the case.

Moreover, in sentencing Michael John Love on Friday, Judge Craig Hall ordered the incarceration terms on the five counts to run consecutively, making for a potential prison term of four to 23 years.

Utah sentencing parameters would point to probation in the case with jail time of zero to 270 days, but he is not required to follow them “and just cannot go along with those guidelines,” Hall said. “Simply put, probation is not an appropriate sentence in this case. Rather, I believe that the sentence should be the maximum sentence allowed by law as most appropriate.”

Preceding sentencing, family members fondly remembered the two fatality victims, Richard Hendrickson, 57, and his daughter Sally Hendrickson, 16. Love, for his part, apologized for the tragic turn of events. The elder Hendrickson had served as chief executive officer of Clearfield-based Lifetime Products.

A jury last March found Love guilty of two counts of negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor, in the deaths of the Hendricksons in the July 6, 2024, incident. That’s less than the convictions for manslaughter, a second-degree felony, sought by prosecutors. The jurors also found him guilty of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, stemming from the injuries suffered by Mollie Hendrickson in the accident and two counts of obstruction of justice, one of them a third-degree felony, the other a class A misdemeanor.

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As for actual incarceration time, Hall sentenced Love to 364 days of jail on each of the negligent homicide counts, one to 15 years imprisonment on the aggravated assault count, zero to five years imprisonment on the felony obstruction count, and 364 days of jail on the misdemeanor obstruction count. Love received credit for time served, nearly 600 days.

Love was hauling a 31,000-pound bulldozer when the piece of machinery, improperly secured, slid off his tow truck as he negotiated a curve along Ogden Canyon Road, a narrowing, winding roadway east of Ogden, and fell onto the oncoming vehicle driven by Richard Hendrickson. The force of the bulldozer sheared off the top of the Hendrickson vehicle, causing the two deaths and injuring Mollie Hendrickson, another of Richard Hendrickson’s daughters.

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Hall scolded Love, an experienced tow-truck operator, for not properly securing the bulldozer. “There were simply no excuses for an individual, a licensed tow truck driver, to carry this bulldozer that was over 30,000 pounds on a metal track flatbed,” he said.

He also noted Love’s “extensive criminal history,” which includes prior convictions for theft, assault, impaired driving, burglary, driving on a suspended license, failure to secure a load and more. “You have been granted the privilege of probation and early interventions like drug court in the past, yet you have continued to engage in criminal, self-defeating behavior. Past leniency has clearly failed to deter this behavior, making the maximum sentence necessary today,” he said.

Furthermore, the judge said he was “troubled” by Love’s actions after the accident to cover up and obstruct the subsequent investigation, which led to the obstruction of justice convictions. He placed chains on the bed of his truck in the immediate aftermath of the crash as if to make it appear the bulldozer had been secured at several points, prompting the felony obstruction count. He misled law enforcement officials about how the bulldozer had been secured, leading to the misdemeanor obstruction count.

‘Bigger than life’

Richard Hendrickson had served as CEO of Clearfield-based Lifetime Products since 2013. He, his wife and three of the couple’s four children had spent the morning of July 6, 2024, boating at Pineview Reservoir and were on their way home when the tragedy occurred.

The man’s son, Sam Hendrickson, wife Julie Hendrickson and daughter Lyssa Hendrickson all addressed the court, expressing their grief over the deaths of Richard Hendrickson and Sally Hendrickson and pressing for prison time for Love. Mollie Hendrickson, severely injured, provided a pre-recorded statement.

“Being the only boy in the family means that I didn’t just lose a father that day, but a brother as well. The kindest and nicest man I’ve ever known was my father, and for that I’ll always be grateful,” Sam Hendrickson said. “My 16-year-old sister was just as amazing. Sally had a light about her that was contagious. She could light up a room simply by walking into it.”

He also remembered the ride with sister Mollie to the hospital after the accident, having to inform her of the two deaths. “Watching her determination to continue to recover and get better (despite) intense pain and countless surgeries has been incredible,” he said.

Julie Hendrickson said her late husband and daughter “are bigger than life” and that she continues to struggle with the loss.

Her husband “was my best friend and confidant,” she said. “I miss him every day…We had so many plans to do so much together.”

Love, shackled and wearing Weber County Jail garb, offered an apology and said the incident wasn’t intentional.

“If I could take it back, I would. I think about it every single day. I dream about it every single night. It’s something that I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life. I screwed up. I admit it,” he said.

Love’s attorney, Greg Skordas, defended his client, saying he’s remorseful and would be in tears whenever he visited him in jail. “He’s not the monster that everyone makes him out to be, and he’s not the remorseless human being that everyone wants him to be,” Skordas said.