PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A man pled guilty Friday and admitted to driving drunk and killing a Pinellas County Deputy in February 2021, the agency’s first line of duty death in over 100 years.
Robert Allen Holzaepfel, 35, will spend the next 35 years in prison for the death of Michael Magli, a 30-year-old deputy. Magli was a husband and father to two young girls.
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Holzaepfel changed his plea to guilty.
Stephanie Magli, Michael Magli’s widow, told the judge she is grateful Holzaepful is taking responsibility for his actions.
“I thank you for offering to do 35 years, for sparing us a trial and having to see pictures and videos of Michael’s final moments,” she said through tears.
While justice has been served, Magli’s family said the heartbreak is unending.
“It’s been a complete nightmare," Magli's mother Angela Magli-Ramirez said, looking at Holzaepfel. "At times, I want to yell and scream at you for taking Michael from us."
Detectives said back in February 2021, Robert Holzaepfel was driving drunk when he fell asleep inside his truck at a red light. Firefighters broke his window in an effort to wake him up and to get inside to assist him. Instead, he took off.
Deputy Magli heard the call and was working to lay out stop sticks on East Lake Road near Forelock when investigators stated that Holzaepfel’s truck spun out, flipped over and slammed into Magli, trapping him under his cruiser.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Magli’s actions absolutely saved other people’s lives.
“He was a hero that day and saved a bunch of other people’s lives," Gualtieri elaborated after Friday’s court proceeding. "He did what he signed up to do, but he didn’t sign up to die."
Gualtieri said that just a few days ago, someone approached him to say that their relative was driving on East Lake Road that day, and they were likely saved because of Magli’s actions.
“If Michael hadn’t been there doing what he did, this drunk who didn’t care about anybody or anything would have plowed through that median and taken out a bunch of people,” Gualtieri said.
Magli’s daughters were just five years old and nine months old when they lost their dad.
“Our youngest was nine months old," Stephanie said. "She will grow up without a single memory of her father. She won’t get to experience singing Frozen songs in the car with him. He wasn’t there for her first steps and will never get to kiss her goodbye on her first day of school."
Stephanie continued to address Holzaepfel.
"Our oldest daughter was five, and the memories she had of her dad are already faded," she said. "You robbed these girls of their daddy kissing their boo-boos, teaching them to ride a bike, to drive a car or walk them down the aisle one day."
Holzaepfel did not speak during the court hearing. He stayed quiet and did not appear to show any emotion.
Holzaepfel’s attorney told the Magli family that he takes full responsibility and is “so very, very sorry.”
Magli’s family is now left to wonder what his legacy could have been if a man driving with a blood alcohol level nearly three times over the legal limit hadn’t severed it short.
“How many people could he have helped and saved, and how much good could he have accomplished if he could have lived it out in its entirety?” Magli-Ramirez asked.
Holzaepfel will be nearly 70 years old by the time he is released from prison, and Magli’s family hopes he spends the next 35 years praying for forgiveness.
