Sells woman gets prison sentence for fatal crash
Jun 14, 2012, 4:01 PM | Updated: 4:06 pm
TUCSON, Ariz. – A Sells woman has been sentenced to nearly six years in
federal prison for driving impaired and causing the death of a passenger.
Federal prosecutors said Thursday that 34-year-old Sunshine Marie Blackowl got
a 71-month prison term in U.S. District Court in Tucson and also must serve
three years of supervised release.
Blackowl pleaded guilty to involuntary vehicular manslaughter in March.
Prosecutors say Blackowl was driving her pickup truck above the posted speed
limit on Federal Route 19 on the Tohono O’odham Nation near Sells on Nov. 7,
2010.
Authorities say she lost control, crossed over the oncoming lane of traffic and
crashed into a tree.
The collision killed her sister-in-law and prosecutors say toxicology tests
showed Blackowl was under the influence of both alcohol and cocaine at the time.