• 15
  • August
    2010

New York's "Leandra's Law" made it an automatic felony to drive drunk with a child or children in the car. It doesn't matter if the violation is a first or the fifth. Conviction results in a one-to-five-year prison sentence, up to $5,000 in fines and mandatory ignition interlock installation. If a car accident results in injury or fatality, then the penalties are increased.

On Tuesday, the woman who made Leandra's Law a tragic reality pled guilty to 16 counts, including manslaughter and drunken driving.

Leandra Rosado was on her way to a slumber party at Carmen Huertas' house with six friends, including Huertas' own daughter. Huertas had been drinking before she picked the kids up; "cognac," she admitted in court last week. 

She flipped her station wagon on the Henry Hudson Freeway, while traveling at 20 miles above the speed limit.

Thrown from the vehicle, Leandra later succumbed to her injuries.

Also present during the guilty plea was Yiselle Rosario, 12-years-old, who hobbled down the center aisle with the help of a cane. All six of the other young girls were injured in the car crash, including Huertas' own daughter.

Huertas faces between two and 12 years in prison if convicted. For Leandra's family, and the families of those other girls in the car, it hardly seems just.

The judge who heard Huertas' plea said that the 33-year-old would likely be sentenced above the minimum penalty, but below the maximum.

Leandra's father, Lenny Rosado, will continue the push to make Leandra's Law a national maxim and has plans to meet with Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

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