LEWISTON — A Waterville woman charged with manslaughter in the 2017 New Year’s Day crash that killed a Livermore Falls man pleaded guilty Friday to a misdemeanor after two years of following strict court conditions.
Sarah Clark, 33, entered her guilty plea in 8th District Court to a charge of driving to endanger, a Class E misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail.
According the indictment, Clark’s blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit when she struck a car driven by Brady Romano on Route 4 in Livermore at 1:20 a.m. Jan. 1, 2017.
Shawn Berry, 41, of Livermore Falls had been a passenger in Romano’s car and had become sick. When Romano pulled to the side of the road, Berry started to get out of the car. He was killed when Clark sideswiped the back of Romano’s car.
According to police, Clark and a passenger performed CPR on Berry, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Clark had pleaded guilty in July 2018 to a felony charge of aggravated driving to endanger, which is punishable by up to five years in prison.
A judge told her that year that if she were to abide for the next two years by conditions of a plea agreement that included not using or possessing alcohol, staying out of any business that serves alcohol, undergoing substance-abuse counseling and treatment, submitting to random search and testing, and either being employed or going to school, she could return to court to withdraw her felony plea.
She served a jail sentence from Aug. 1 to Oct. 29, 2018.
Charges of manslaughter and aggravated criminal operating under the influence were dismissed as part of the agreement.
On Friday, the judge allowed her to withdraw her felony plea from two years earlier and plead guilty instead to the misdemeanor.
She received a six-month jail sentence, all suspended, plus one year of probation, during which she must not have alcohol, drugs or marijuana, for which she can be searched and tested at random.
She was fined $575 and her license was suspended for 90 days.
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