©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co.
| Mahnesmith Sentenced to Eight Years in Prison |
A Galesburg woman who has pleaded guilty to her role in a fatal car accident will spend the next several years behind bars. 34-year old Lori Mahnesmith tearfully read a statement to the court Thursday apologizing to both what she has put her family and children through and what she has put the victim's family through. Mahnesmith had been convicted of Aggravated Driving Under the Influence because of an accident she caused where she left the road and stuck a car that 75-year old Madge Gossage was sitting in outside an Allens Avenue home back in May.
Mahnesmith says she never intentionally meant to hurt anyone and accepts full responsibility for what happened. She says she would also like to be a positive influence on others. The State and the court saw differently, with Judge James Stewart sentencing Mahnesmith to 8 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections with credit for 153 days already served in the Knox County Jail.
Due to the state's truth in sentencing law, she must serve at least 85-percent of her sentence and has the right to appeal it. Judge Stewart told the court during the sentencing that it would have been different if the prescription drugs alone would have been the cause of the accident but since Mahnesmith had what Stewart called "quite a cocktail of drugs in her system" he had to consider the publics interest and the fact she has had prior "wake-up calls" and an unwillillingness to obey court rules, he had no choice but to sentence her to time within the correctional system.
(Lori Mahnesmith. File Photo.) |
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| 10 09 08 by Newsroom |
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