Front Royal man guilty of involuntary manslaughter in death of Ashburn woman

LEESBURG, Va. — Front Royal resident Tony Steven Dane, the owner of a 17-year-old school bus converted into a food truck, was convicted Friday of involuntary manslaughter, in a Sept. 8, 2017 crash that killed a Loudoun County mother.

Dane was convicted by a jury of involuntary manslaughter, as well as having no driver’s license, no insurance no safety inspection and reckless driving, in the Sept. 8, 2017, death of Erin Kaplan, 39, of Ashburn.

He could receive up to 10 years in prison on the involuntary manslaughter conviction.

Dane was behind the wheel of Dane’s Great American Hamburger food truck on Sept. 8, when police say he ran a stop sign and crashed into Erin Kaplan’s station wagon on Evergreen Mills Road in Leesburg. She died in the crash and her teenaged son, two younger daughters and her mother were all seriously injured.

Dane had been held without bond since Nov. 15, 2017 when a Loudoun County Circuit Court judge denied bond, noting that Dane was already on a $42,000 bond for extortion and wiretapping charges in Nevada at the time of the Loudoun County crash.

Court records indicate the charges in Nevada are related to work as a political strategist.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Ryan Perry called Dane’s food truck “a 22-thousand pound behemoth deathtrap” and told jurors that the food vendor had made a conscious decision to not maintain the vehicle.

Dane had personally changed the brake line of his vehicle days before the crash, though he had no experience as a mechanic.

Jurors were played a recording of Dane telling a sheriff’s deputy his brakes had been “spongy” during the drive from Front Royal to Leesburg.

The jury has recommended that Dane spend 11 years, six months in prison. Judge Benjamin Kendrick will set a date for Dane’s final sentencing on Tuesday, March 27.