A US national who fled to Ireland after killing three university students while drink-driving has been convicted by an American court.
Frederick Russell (28) faces up to 14 years in prison after a jury in Washington State found him guilty on Tuesday on vehicular homicide and vehicular assault charges.
He was accused of being drunk, speeding, and trying to pass in a no-passing zone when in June 2001 his vehicle crashed head-on into another car filled with Washington State University students on a highway between Washington and Idaho.
After his initial arrest he jumped bail and arrived in Dublin, but was extradited last year after making the US Marshalls Service's "Most Wanted" list.
At his trial in Kelso, Washington, prosecutors said Russell had been drinking vodka at a party earlier on the night of the crash and went to a bar where he continued to drink and play pool.
At a hospital Russell's blood-alcohol level measured .128 per cent, well above Washington State's intoxication threshold of 0.08 per cent. Defence lawyers claimed he fled because he believed he would not receive a fair trial. No sentencing date has yet been set.