Heather Dison of Zephyrhills pleaded guilty last week in Pasco Circuit Court to DUI manslaughter and eight related charges. She faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced on December 22nd. Until then, Dison waits in the Land O’ Lakes Jail.

Dison faced the charges for causing a three-car crash in June 2007 just north of Dade City. The wreck killed one man and injured four other people. Law enforcement said Dison drove her pickup north in the southbound lanes of U.S. 301 and hit a southbound car. The 23-year-old driver of that car was killed and his passenger was injured.

A third car struck a ladder that had fallen from Dison’s truck onto the road, sending that vehicle into a utility pole, injuring the driver and one of his passengers.

Prosecutors alleged that Dison had a blood-alcohol level of 0.251 percent and had been driving 70 mph in a 55 mph zone, in addition to driving the wrong way. Florida law presumes a driver intoxicated at a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent.

DUI, Felonies

This entry was posted on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 11:02 am and is filed under Florida Criminal Law News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.