Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The man convicted in the December 2022 death of Melissa Rack has been sentenced to prison.

Darin Douglas Finley, 37, was sentenced to 58 months or just under five years in prison Tuesday in Mower County District Court, which will be served at the St. Cloud facility.

He was given credit for 60 days served.

The sentencing comes after Finley switched his plea on three different occasions, finally agreeing to plead guilty to felony criminal homicide-driver who causes a collision and leaves the scene in May of this year.

It’s the second time Finley has agreed to plead guilty in the case. In September of 2023, he agreed to plead guilty to felony criminal vehicular homicide-driver who causes an accident and flees the scene, however, a plea to court for probation rather than a prison sentence was turned down. 

Subsequently, Finley’s agreement to plead guilty was rescinded and the case was scheduled to go to trial this May before he agreed again to plead guilty.

Finley was convicted for striking Rack late in the evening on Dec. 30, 2022. She was found laying on the roadway of Oakland Place SE near Oakland Avenue SE at around 11:18 p.m. not breathing and with no pulse. Life saving efforts at the scene and at Mayo Clinic Health Systems-Austin were unsuccessful. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.   

Witnesses at the scene said they observed Finley at the scene including one who said they saw a male kneel down as if to pick something up and then run back to the vehicle and speed off eastbound on Oakland Avenue East. 

When officers eventually made contact with Finley, he told them he had no idea what happened and that he did not remember driving. He also allegedly told a family member earlier that he had hit a deer.

Officers also noted that Finley appeared intoxicated. When asked how much he had to drink that day, Finley replied “that’s another question I don’t know,” and then refused a breath test. 

A preliminary breath test taken later came back .063.