BOISE, Idaho — A Meridian woman convicted of killing another driver in drunken driving crash last summer will spend up to 15 years in prison.
Courtni Verity, 23, was sentenced in an Ada County courtroom Thursday for felony vehicular manslaughter.
Fourth District Judge Michael Reardon gave her four years fixed with up to 11 more years indeterminate.
Verity entered an Alford guilty plea in January. She did not admit to the committing the crime but acknowledged that there was enough evidence to secure a conviction against her.
Meridian Police say Verity was driving northbound on Ten Mile Road in a 2005 Toyota Avalon around 1:45 a.m. on July 22, 2018, at high rate of speed when she rear-ended a 2004 Ford Mustang driver by 36-year-old Herbert “Herbie” Moran.
The Mustang hit a guardrail and spun. Moran was ejected from the car and died at the scene.
Witnesses say Verity was driving at least 80 mph. The posted speed limit on that section of Ten Mile Road is 40 mph.
Verity was found by emergency responders sitting on a canal bank. Her blood alcohol content registered higher than Idaho’s legal limit of .08.
Officers found a Smirnoff Vodka bottle on the passenger seat of Verity’s car and witnessed her slurring her words after the crash.
Judge Reardon also suspended Verity’s driver’s license for 10 years.