Peoria-area woman receives 14-year prison sentence for fatal DUI crash

A 10th Circuit Court judge has sentenced a Farmington woman who pleaded guilty to killing two pedestrians while driving drunk last April to 14 years in prison.

“Our system is based on punishment and rehabilitation," said Judge Tim Cusack on Thursday as he sentenced Stephanie Melgoza, 24, on two counts of aggravated DUI and two counts of aggravated reckless driving. “I have to balance those two. What is the appropriate punishment, in order to deter other people; and what is the rehabilitative quality of the person that’s being sentenced?”

Melgoza pleaded guilty in February to the four felony charges. Four lesser charges were dismissed in exchange for the guilty plea.

According to reports from the East Peoria Police Department, Melgoza struck and killed Andrea Rosewicz, 43, of Avon, Ohio, and Paul Prowant, 55, of Seattle near the Full Throttle bar in East Peoria.

During Thursday’s hearing, Melgoza expressed deep remorse over her decision to drink and drive and the fatal results of that decision.

“I’m so sorry for everything, and I will never, ever commit anything like that again,” she said. “I have not drank since that day. I do not plan on drinking ever again. I want to try to do something positive to make a difference, speak out about this and warn others about the dangers that come with drinking.”

Melgoza faced up to 28 years in prison for the charges. During impact statements from friends and family of the victims, Rosewicz’s sister, Sherri Hutchison, asked Cusack to hand down the maximum penalty.

“There are no words that can even remotely come close to inflicting pain and suffering on you … that you have inflicted on me, our families, and Andrea’s friends,” Hutchison told Melgoza. “The magnitude is unimaginable.”

This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Stephanie Melgoza sentenced 14 years for fatal East Peoria DUI crash