PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island woman was sentenced on Monday to seven years in prison for a drunk driving crash that killed one person and injured two others, according to Attorney General Peter Neronha.
Barbara Trojan, 63, of North Kingstown, was sentenced in Providence County Superior Court after entering a plea of no contest to one count of driving under the influence resulting in death and two counts of driving to endanger.
The 2019 crash in East Greenwich killed Patricia Daniels, who was a passenger in an SUV that prosecutors say Trojan struck after drinking for several hours at a nearby bar. Trojan was accused of swerving across three lanes of traffic and hitting the SUV head-on on Frenchtown Road around midnight.
Daniels was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead on Sept. 11, 2019. Two others in the SUV were treated for injuries.
A Superior Court judge sentenced Trojan to 12 years in prison, with seven years to be served at a corrections facility and the remainder to be suspended with probation. Trojan was also sentenced to three years of home confinement after she is released.
In a statement, Neronha said there is never a reason to drive under the influence of alcohol.
“The criminal justice system cannot reverse time, yet I hope that today’s sentence of incarceration provides some assurance that those who irresponsibly endanger others will be held to account,” he said.
