Woman gets 15 years for crash that killed 5 teens

[August 28, 2010]  YORKVILLE (AP) -- A judge has sentenced an Illinois woman to 15 years in prison for causing the deaths of five teens in a 2007 alcohol-related car crash.

Kendall County Judge Clint Hull issued the sentence Friday for 26-year-old Sandra Vasquez, who collapsed during testimony. The judge heard testimony from Vasquez's relatives and relatives of the victims. Vasquez had faced up to 28 years in prison for aggravated DUI and reckless homicide.

Prosecutors claim Vasquez was driving a vehicle crammed with eight Oswego High School students when the car slammed into a utility pole. Four passengers were pronounced dead at the scene and a fifth teen died later.

The mother of one of the victims, Donna Dwyer, testified during the sentencing hearing about seeing her son's body after the accident.

[Associated Press]

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