baltimoresun.com
By Liz F. Kay, The Baltimore Sun
5:31 PM EDT, April 7, 2011
A Carroll County woman was sentenced to five years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a fatal drunken-driving crash on U.S. 40 last year.
Howard County Circuit Court Judge Diane Leasure sentenced Hampstead resident Alison Walsh, 23, to 10 years in prison with five years suspended, said T. Wayne Kirwan, spokesman for the Howard County state’s attorney’s office.
Walsh will probably serve about a third of her sentence before she becomes eligible for parole, he said. When released, she will serve five years of supervised probation and must use an ignition interlock device when driving, Kirwan said.
Walsh crashed her Honda Civic into the back of a motorcycle stopped at U.S. 40 and Marriottsville Road on July 11, according to police. Passenger Cecilia Amato died later at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center.
Walsh had a blood-alcohol level of .17 percent, according to police. She had been charged in 2008 with attempting to drive under the influence of alcohol and negligent driving in Carroll County, but pleaded not guilty and received probation before judgment, according to court records.
At the sentencing hearing, Amato’s two children offered victim impact statements, Kirwan said. Walsh also testified, he said.
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