• 10
  • June
    2010

Earlier this week, 41-year-old Sandra Jacobson was sentenced to a maximum of 36 years in prison for her role in a fatal DUI accident. In April, Jacobson was convicted by a Denver jury on nine separate counts, including two counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of careless driving, one count of third-degree assault, one count of careless driving causing injury, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, and one count of drunk driving.

According to the prosecution, the January 2009 accident was the direct result of Jacobson's drunk driving. Specifically, they argued that she was traveling at speeds in excess of 80 miles-per-hour when she veered across two lanes of traffic, struck a taxi with three passengers and fled the scene. Her estimated blood alcohol content at the time of the accident was more than three times the legal limit.

Two of the taxi passengers, 71-year-old Kate McClelland and 54-year-old Kathleen Krasniewicz, were killed while the taxi driver was seriously injured. McClelland and Krasniewicz had attended a librarian convention in Denver and were on their way to the airport at the time of the accident.

When police officers finally apprehended Jacobson, she initially informed them that she had consumed cold medicine. Later, she told them that she was sober and had temporarily lost control of her car when her dog tried to consume a potato chip. She stated that she never realized that she had struck another vehicle.

Jacobson further explained that after the accident (of which she had no knowledge), she unintentionally consumed a "road pop" that she had left in her truck several days earlier. The "road pop" was a mixture of Vitamin Water and 99-proof schnapps.

During the sentencing hearing for the drunk driving, vehicular homicide and other charges, Judge Robert McGahey referred to Jacobson's version of events as "an incredible and unbelievable story that was an insult to the intelligence of anyone who heard it." In reference to her trial behavior, specifically when she mouthed the words "didn't do it" to a victim's daughter, McGahey stated that it "show[ed] a level of gall that is incomprehensible to me."

Jacobson has several driving offenses on her record, including several DUIs.

Related Resources:   
• Jacobson Gets 36 Years for DUI Deaths of Connecticut Librarians (The Denver Post)
• Maximum Sentence for Pena Blvd. DUI Crash Driver (KDVR-FOX 31)