Appellate Court Upholds Vasquez' 15-Year Sentence

The Illinois Appellate Court this week affirmed a 15-year prison sentence for Sandra Vasquez, the driver of the car in a Feb. 2007 crash that killed five Oswego teenagers.

The Illinois Appellate Court has rendered its decision in the case of Sandra Vasquez, upholding her 15-year sentence in the 2007 crash that killed five Oswego teenagers. In June of 2010, Vasquez was convicted of 16 counts of aggravated driving under the influence and five counts of reckless homicide in the Feb. 2007 crash. Vasquez, then 23, was driving a car at around 1:30 a.m. with eight teens as passengers, all of whom had left a party in Boulder Hill. The vehicle careened off of Route 31 in Oswego and struck a utility pole. Four of the teens – Matthew Frank, 17; Katherine Merkel, 14; Jessica Nutoni, 15; and Tiffany Urso, 16 – were killed on impact. James McGee, 14, died seven days later. The three other teens, as well as Vasquez herself…

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Mr. J

11:44 am on Saturday, June 9, 2012

Thank you, Polly.   more ›

Appellate Court Hears Vasquez Appeal

Family members pack courtroom.

Appellate Court to Consider Vasquez Sentence

Sandra Vasquez was sentenced to 15 years in prison for driving drunk in the February 2007 accident that killed five teens.

Sandra Vasquez’s attorney is hopeful after learning the appellate court will hear oral arguments on her appeal of her prison sentence for driving drunk in the 2007 crash that killed five teens in Oswego. “Any time you are granted an oral argument on an appeal, it’s a good sign,” defense attorney Kathleen Colton said. “It means the justices want to hear from the attorneys, rather than reading the cold file.” A panel of three appellate justices will hear arguments—and perhaps question—appellate prosecutors and appellate public defenders on a portion of state law that demands prison time for fatal DUIs “unless the court determines that extraordinary circumstances exist and require probation.” The arguments are set for May 14 in Elgin. Vasquez…

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