Calacino sentenced to year in jail

WEST JORDAN — Jasen Andrew Calacino, who helped a former girlfriend hide the body of another friend who died of a drug overdose, was sentenced to a year in jail Wednesday.

Calacino, 20, previously pleaded guilty to third-degree felony desecration of a human body as part of a plea bargain. The plea came in connection with his participation in hiding the body of Amelia Sorich, 18, in the foothills near Bountiful after she died June 25, 2005. A class A misdemeanor count of negligent homicide was dismissed.

Third District Judge Royal Hansen imposed a zero-to-five year prison term but suspended that and sent Calacino to jail, despite efforts by Calacino's attorney to have him put on probation or given home confinement.

"It's the right punishment and the right sentence at this time," the judge said of the jail stint that began immediately.

Calacino and his then-girlfriend, Macall Aubrey Petersen, 19, were with Sorich during a weekend stay at one of the youths' homes when Petersen injected Sorich with a mixture of heroin and cocaine that proved fatal.

After Sorich began to show signs of illness, Calacino wanted to call 911 but was persuaded not to by Petersen, who had previous criminal problems. When Calacino found Sorich had stopped breathing, he unsuccessfully tried CPR. After Sorich died, the pair took her body to the foothills and tried to cover it with grass.

Calacino confessed what happened to police the following Monday and has cooperated with the court ever since, while Petersen skipped court appearances.

Turning to the Sorich family in court, Calacino apologized for what he had done, and the pain he had caused them and also vowed never to break the law again.

Calacino's lawyer, Gregory Skordas, said his client made a terrible mistake, but has since shown himself to be mature, sincere and willing to accept the consequences of his actions. Skordas said a year in jail was too harsh a penalty and would put Calacino on the same footing as Petersen, who administered the fatal drug dose and didn't want to call for help. Skordas suggested a sentence of probation, or possibly home confinement with an ankle monitor.

But Sorich's mother, Kathryn Sorich, said that Calacino's cooperation and the fact that he seems like a genuinely nice young man doesn't lessen the agony she and her family have undergone with Amelia's death — which may have been prevented if Calacino had called 911.