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Man pleads guilty in deadly crash in Nebraska that killed a western IA man

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November 22nd, 2011 by Ric Hanson

PONCA, Neb. (AP) – A northeast Nebraska man has pleaded guilty to two counts of motor vehicular homicide and one count of drunken driving in an accident that killed two Wayne State College students near Emerson. Fifty-five-year-old Robert Mahler, of Hubbard, NE,pleaded guilty Monday in Dixon County District Court. Sentencing is Jan. 23rd. Authorities say Mahler was driving drunk on the night of Sept. 9, on the wrong side of Nebraska Highway 9 and hit an oncoming motorcycle. Two people on the motorcycle were killed – 20-year-old Christopher Oberg, of Mapleton, Iowa, and his passenger, 19-year-old Alexis Calfee, of Bennet, Neb. Authorities say Mahler’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit. Mahler faces a sentence of one to 50 years in prison on each of the vehicular homicide charges.