A Grove City man was sentenced Thursday to serve 11 to 22 months in prison. He pleaded guilty to drunken driving and drug charges filed following a September 2020 crash that injured his passenger.

Malachi M. Graham, 26, was sentenced by Judge Kelley Streib to serve six to 12 months in prison for a misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance followed by a consecutive sentence of five to 10 months in prison for a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia and a concurrent sentence of 30 days to six months in prison for DUI. He also was fined a total of $850.

Graham is in custody in the state prison in Rockview, Mercer County, where he has been since pleading guilty to misdemeanor flight to avoid apprehension for an incident in August 2021. He also has an unpaid $25,000 bond in the September 2020 case. He appeared by video from the state prison for Thursday’s sentencing hearing.

Police said Graham was driving a car north on Interstate 79 in Muddy Creek Township around 8:15 p.m. Sept. 9, 2020, when he crashed. Upon arrival, state police said they found Graham climbing out of the driver’s side window of a badly damaged Toyota Solara in the center median.

Police initially filed 23 charges including felonies for drug possession and aggravated assault by vehicle while DUI against Graham.

His passenger, Ashley M. Robinson, 31, of Hermitage in Mercer County, who owned the car, was found lying unresponsive on the ground behind the vehicle, and was flown to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh with serious injuries. She was charged with a summary count of disorderly conduct and fined $50 after pleading guilty in June this year.

While checking the vehicle's glove box for registration and insurance information, police said they said he found a bag of between 38 and 40 unknown pills. A vape pen containing THC wax was found behind the passenger seat. Lab tests indicated the seized pills were three kinds of “bath salts,” a synthetic stimulant and type of designer drug.