A Niagara-on-the-Lake native whose pickup truck struck and killed a senior who was cycling on East and West Line has been sentenced to 11 months in jail.

Richard Alan Moore, 39, pleaded guilty to a Criminal Code charge of failing to stop at an accident causing death after he hit Nestor Chemerika, 84, who was riding his bike on the paved shoulder of the rural road on July 13, 2023. He died 12 days later.

On Wednesday afternoon in St. Catharines Superior Court, Justice Michael Bordin ordered Moore to serve 11 months in custody followed by a 20-month driving ban.

“No sentence imposed can undo the harm to the victim and his family or replace Mr. Chemerika’s absence from his family and the community,” Bordin told the court.

However, “there is a need to dissuade others from failing to stop when someone has possibly been seriously injured or killed and failing to provide assistance and from covering up the accident,” he said.

A conditional jail sentence, served in the community rather than in jail, as suggested by defence lawyer Jeffrey Manishen, would not be appropriate, Bordin said.

“I’m not satisfied that Mr. Moore’s expression of remorse is paired with insight and signs that he’s come to realize the gravity of his conduct, and as a result, changed his attitude or imposed himself into discipline, which significantly reduces the likelihood of further offending,” Bordin said.

“However, an offender cannot be punished for lack of remorse.”

Acknowledging Moore is an “otherwise positive, functioning member of society,” in this case he put his own interests ahead of the victim’s.

“The principal aggravating feature here is that Mr. Moore tried to cover up the accident by repairing the truck and then denied doing so,” Bordin said.

He agreed with Manishen’s suggestion that Moore serve his time at the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene. Moore remains in custody there after being charged in a serious boating crash in Muskoka in July. The judge said those charges were not a factor in this case.

Moore, a Niagara Falls-based contractor, initially pleaded guilty before another judge in January 2025.

But in an unusual twist, this past June, that plea was tossed out after a dispute over certain information that should not have been presented to the court.

In June, Moore admitted he was driving the pickup truck that struck Chemerika, though he had initially denied it when questioned by police.

After Moore re-entered his plea he apologized for his actions.

The impact of the crash knocked Chemerika into the roadside ditch, where he was found a short time afterward by a Niagara Regional Police officer on routine patrol.

His crumpled bike was nearby and debris from the truck was strewn on the road. One of its large external mirrors was found at the scene.

Chemerika was still alive when the police found him, assistant Crown attorney Todd Morris told the court.

In arguing earlier for a 12-month jail sentence, Morris repeatedly stated Moore was reckless in not remaining at the scene or returning to help Chemerika.

Instead, as witnesses and surveillance video unearthed by investigators showed, Moore continued driving toward his home in Niagara Falls.

“We know that (Chemerika) did not die on impact,” Morris said.

“We also know that the accused’s own assistance could have made a difference, especially since he’s a volunteer firefighter.”

Within days of the crash, when police questioned Moore at his home, his truck was still visibly damaged but “it was obvious” some attempts had been made to repair it, Morris said in an agreed statement of facts.

When officers told Moore they were looking for the vehicle involved in a hit-and-run and asked if he had been on East and West Line on July 13, Moore said, “I don’t remember.”

He also denied replacing the passenger side mirror.

It was a Thursday evening, not yet dark, when Chemerika was struck, likely between 7:40 and 7:54 p.m., court heard.

Thursday is fish fry night at the NOTL Legion and police received a tip that Moore was a regular customer there. He worked as a contractor and had clients in NOTL.

On the night Chemerika was hit, Moore, wearing a “volunteer fire department” T-shirt, was captured on video at the Legion buying a pitcher of beer at 7:02 p.m.

However, the judge noted, there was no video showing Moore drinking beer that night.

NOTL fire chief Jay Plato confirmed Moore previously was a volunteer with the department but resigned about six years ago.

Video from a home on Niagara Street in NOTL recorded Moore’s pewter-coloured 1999 GMC Sierra pickup travelling toward East and West Line at 7:40 p.m., with no damage to the passenger side of the truck.

Less than 15 minutes later, about 7:53 p.m., video from a home in St. Davids showed Moore’s truck headed toward Niagara Falls. Its passenger side mirror was missing.

Meanwhile, Const. Vincent St. Pierre was on patrol at 8:22 p.m. along East and West Line when he spotted a single black running shoe and some vehicle debris in the middle of the road.

He stopped and found Chemerika in a roadside ditch, barely conscious and badly injured. He was airlifted to hospital in Hamilton.

In victim impact statements presented previously, Chemerika’s family members described how the tragedy has affected them.

“On July 13, 2023, Richard Alan Moore dramatically changed our lives forever. Seeing my dad in the hospital, so helpless and terrified, broke my heart. There wasn’t a spot in his body that wasn’t cut, bruised or broken,” his daughter Dennise Falzoi said in a statement read to the court by Morris.

“I can’t imagine and understand how Richard Alan Moore could just drive away and try and hide what he did and continue on with his life, like nothing happened. It’s mind boggling,” she wrote.

She, her brother Nestor Jr. and her father’s brother Walter said Chemerika was passionate about staying in top physical condition, going for daily walks, jogs and bike rides.

“Our father endured so much pain and suffering while in the hospital as a result of his injury. His body was so broken and damaged,” the family’s victim impact statements said.

“It was absolute torture and emotionally crippling watching him slowly slip away … the fear and sorrow in his eyes, not being able to communicate during the last days and hours” as he lay in hospital.

“This whole ordeal is incredibly horrific and devastating for all of our family members and the community,” they added.

“Our father had plenty of years left to live, as his brothers and sisters all lived well into their 90s. This truly devastated everyone, especially his three children and all his grandchildren.”

“Our father was a pillar of the NOTL community, where he lived for over 55 years,” they added.

After the tragedy, friends and neighbours came to Chemerika’s house “literally in tears, hugging us children, telling us of their devastation” over his death.

“We all continue to experience great sorrow, anger, confusion, devastation, PTSD, scarred for life, for this senseless, preventable loss of life.”

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t talk or think about my dad. I have a hole in my heart that can never be filled.”