COLUMBUS, Ohio — His YouTube confession to drinking and driving and causing a wrong-way crash on 670 that killed a father of two went viral, and now more than five years after he was sent to prison Matthew Cordle has a different message he hopes people will hear.
Cordle plead guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and OVI for the death of 61-year old Vincent Canzani in June 2013. In the video, posted online in September 2013, Cordle said he'd been bar hopping that night and drinking heavily before getting in his truck and driving into oncoming traffic. He said he blacked out and doesn't remember much about the accident, just waking up in the hospital after the crash.
He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.
Now he's sharing about his time at Pickaway Correctional Institution, what his plans are for his future after he's released. Cordle says he deserves to be in prison and understands how this interview may cause more pain to the victim’s family, but believes his message is important for everyone.
“Just knowing that the beginning of a long road that was going to be difficult it was meant to be difficult rightfully so for what I did,” said Matthew Cordle.
When you have nothing but time, it can be your enemy or your saving grace. Cordle was 22 years old when he killed Canzani, a man with two daughters who was a Navy veteran and a gifted photographer. A man he never met.
“It is overwhelming to think about and it brings a lot of guilt,” said Cordle. “Just that I don’t really know him and I’ve affected his life in the worst way that you can. I wish I could know more about him I wish I could have not done this to him."
As for his video confession, Cordle said: “A lot of people said it was selfless, but for me it was almost a selfish thing to do because for me to truly move forward I had to do that."
In an interview with ABC 6, he expressed how he would have liked more communication with the Canzani family at that time. “I wish, I wish I would have thought about them more in that and I know even doing this now them seeing my face and hearing my voice it’s going to cause them pain but I also want to spread awareness and help others,” said Cordle.
Cordle is now 28 years old and spends his time thinking about where he’s going and where he’s been. “I think about it at the beginning of every day and at the end of every day at least to just kind of reset myself at night and refocus myself in the morning,” said Cordle.
Cordle found focus and a purpose in prison. He shares his story with fellow inmates to help release his inner demons. “Changing kind of the core of ourselves and trying to get the core issues for why we have a disregard for ourselves and if we don’t care about ourselves it’s kind of hard to care about other people at that point,” said Cordle.
Cordle says a turning point came during year four behind bars. There were big life events, including losing both his grandparents, that hit especially hard.
“That was kind of a defining moment for me knowing that I’m not going back. I’m not going to hurt people, hurt myself anymore, because it would make me miss them. What I did before caused me to miss spending their last days with them,” said Cordle.
He’s solving core issues and building a stronger foundation. Cordle is now one semester from receiving his bachelor’s degree in psychology.
“I hopefully plan to go into rehab and recovery field, mental health, just to kind of help people who are maybe like me a little bit lost maybe having a little bit of trouble moving forward through life,” said Cordle.
Part of Cordle’s mission to keep others from making the same mistake is already up and running. His idea for the Save Your Victim non-profit - which helps people get safe rides home when alcohol may be hindering judgement - has been carried out by his sister. “Those excuses don’t suffice in the face of all the pain that’s caused afterwards,” said Cordle.
Cordle wants to keep the project moving forward once he’s released. “I don’t see why Columbus can’t be a safe city a responsible city and form partnerships with the bars, nightclubs, ridesharing services and the city itself,” said Cordle.
Cordle has just over a year left on his six and a half year sentence.
He remembers his first day in prison, saying it was tough. But he's also pictured his last. “I imagine it’ll be some anxiety,” said Cordle.
His time at Pickaway Correctional ends in March 2020.
“It’s not something that should be exciting to me or I shouldn’t feel like I’ve earned something other than the fact that I’m doing the things now that I should have been all along,” said Cordle. Not for one moment forgetting how one decision landed him in prison. Or the lives he forever changed.
“I have no need to drink after that it just doesn’t make sense with what I’m trying to do now,” said Cordle. “I’m sorry, to the day I die."
Cordle did apply for release last August when 80% of his sentence had been served. He says it’s a function to help those with mandatory sentences who may be in prison for the first time to have a mechanism for release and return to society. He was denied in November.
Cordle says he understands he deserves to be right where he is and to finish the remainder of his sentence.
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