Dalevir Pannu was sentenced to serve five years in jail Friday and now faces lawsuits from the pedestrians he injured during an October hit-and-run.

Pannu, 21, of Canada, pleaded guilty to aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol on Jan. 15 ‘- a felony that carries a penalty of one to 12 years in jail. Associate Judge E. Dan Kimmel delivered the sentence in Jackson County Court Friday.

Police were dispatched shortly after 2 a.m. Oct. 18 to reports of a hit-and-run on Poplar Street near the West College Street intersection. Pannu was taken into custody minutes later after police located his gray 2000 Ford Mustang parked outside his West Freeman Street home.

Witnesses told police they saw Pannu’s car hit four pedestrians – Laura Gilbert, John Koch, Jade Swisher and Sydney Rollinson – as they were crossing the street.

A toxicology report later found that Pannu’s blood-alcohol content was nearly three times higher than the legal limit for him to drive.

Though criminal proceedings against Pannu have ended, he now faces lawsuits from the victims. Gilbert, Koch, Rollinson and Swisher have filed civil charges against Pannu seeking damages, according to court records.

Court documents indicate a fifth lawsuit was filed by Aryan Zarandazdi, who could not be reached for comment.

Jim Swisher, whose son, Jade Swisher, sustained life-threatening injuries during the accident, said he hopes the suit will reimburse his family for his son’s medical expenses valued at nearly $1 million.

‘It’s not fair to Jade because he didn’t ask for any of this to happen,’ he said. ‘(Pannu) about killed my son and left him there in the road to die.’

Civil defense attorney William Brandon, who represents Pannu in the lawsuits, declined comment.

Swisher said his family was pleased with Friday’s sentence.

‘He needs to serve some time for what he did to these people,’ Jim Swisher said. ‘Jade almost died twice.’

Jade Swisher has undergone multiple surgeries to repair 15 broken bones and a head injury that put the 21-year-old into a coma. Jim Swisher said his son was released from the hospital in December, but is still going through physical therapy and began having seizures earlier this week.

Rollinson, a junior from Salem studying marketing, said Pannu’s sentence was more than she expected. She said she knows students ticketed for driving drunk who got off easy.

Rollinson said she cannot recall the accident, but remembers waking up at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale with a broken leg and fractured skull. A gash in her head reopened two weeks after she was discharged, which sent her to a Springfield hospital for surgery, she said.

‘I just feel really lucky to be as healthy as I am now,’ Rollinson said. ‘It’s been hard seeing the two people that were hurt really badly and seeing them have to go through that.’

Gilbert, 44, of Carbondale, attended the sentencing in a wheelchair. She said she is still being treated for a broken leg and fractured pelvis, but expects to begin physical therapy witin the coming months.

Gilbert said she was hoping Pannu would be sentenced to serve the full 12 years in prison, but was satisfied with what he got.

‘With the sentencing behind us, that makes me feel better,’ she said Monday.

Pannu’s defense attorney in the criminal case, Paul Christenson, did not return a phone message and was not in his office Monday to speak to reporters.

Daily Egyptian reporter Barton Lorimor can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 263 or [email protected].