SEATTLE — A woman convicted of two counts of vehicular homicide in a drunken driving incident in 2003 was sentenced Friday to another term in prison for a felony DUI.
Out of a maximum possible 29-month sentence, King County Superior Court Judge Barbara Linde sentenced Dawn Vrentas to 22 months in prison, a term both parties agreed to in a plea.
Vrentas, a 32-year-old woman from Edmonds, was first convicted of driving under the influence in 2001. Then in 2003, a drunken driving accident killed two friends in her car: Kyle Hutchinson and Wally Corman.
Vrentas was sentenced to five years in prison.
When she got out, Vrentas worked as the managing director of a nonprofit program helping former prisoners improve their lives through education.
Vrentas’ LinkedIn profile also states she worked as a pool manager for the City of Edmonds.
In July 2013, a Washington State Patrol trooper pulled Vrentas over on I-5 at NE 145th Street for speeding.
In the report, Vrentas stated she had just found out her husband had been cheating on her.
In court Friday, Vrentas’ lawyer, Kim Gibson, said, “The Dawn Vrentas who drove under the influence this last July was fundamentally good. She had humility, she had great love for others and tireless service for them. She had an impressive drive to improve herself and the lives of those around her.”
After Vrentas was handcuffed and taken into custody, KIRO 7 asked Vrentas’ mother and friends if they had anything to say on her behalf.
Her supporters blocked the camera with their hands and cursed.
“You’ve done enough damage,” one supporter said to KIRO 7.
Kayla Welch, the sister of victim Kyle Hutchinson, said she found the entire situation unfair.
“You know what? She's going to be back in 22 months. My brother is never going to be back,” Welch said.
Welch and other members of Hutchinson's and Corman's families wrote to the judge asking for a harsh sentence.
“If you killed someone and it doesn't change you and it doesn't allow you to realize that your behavior can affect someone,” Welch said, “it just makes me think that she really never cared.”
In court, the judge said she also received many letters from Vrentas’ supporters.
Judge Linde said she struggled with the decision of going with a relatively shorter sentence. She talked about the range of 22 to 29 months under consideration and how the 2001 DUI conviction was more than 10 years before the recent arrest.
“The range does not factor in the other prior DUI, but in the court's view, because of her extremely young age then, it predated the crime and tragedy that was committed in '03. The range also doesn't factor in the work that Ms. Vrentas has done, and the good,” Linde said, referring to Vrentas’ work with the Post-Prison Education Program.
Vrentas will need to pay $850 in legal obligations. When she leaves prison, she will have to be on community supervision for 12 months and wear an alcohol monitoring device.
KIRO
