NH Woman Sentenced to Six Months Jail in Boat Crash

(NECN: Lauren Collins, Manchester, NH) - Erica Blizzard says she'll spend the rest of her life apologizing to her best friend's family and friends.

"I loved Stephanie very much," she said tearfully in court Wednesday. "And I am so sorry and so heart broken for what has happened."

The 36-year-old Laconia, New Hampshire woman was convicted of negligent homicide in March for the 2008 boat crash on Lake Winnipesaukee that killed Stephanie Beaudoin. A jury hung on charges that blizzard was drunk at the time, though the women, along with a third friend, had spent the night enjoying cocktails and beer.

"I could have been found not guilty on all the counts and it wouldn't have made any of this better," she said.

Blizzard's lawyers asked she be spared jail time, saying she is a truly remorseful woman of faith and integrity. One of her employees at Lakeport Landing marina called her a role model.

Tyler Henderson pleaded, "If you believe losing your best friend in an accident is not enough, i simply don't know is. Erica does not deserve to see a day in jail. There are so many people that rely on her every day."

But the Hon. Kathleen McGuire -- calling the crash a criminal act and not an accident -- sentenced Blizzard to 12 months in prison. She'll be eligible for home confinement after the first six months and will have to serve 200 hundred hours community service.

The sentence begins June 1st, after Blizzard undergoes surgery she sustained in the accident. Injuries her family and lawyers argued could prove fatal if she has to go to jail.

"I know you have a copy of Erica's MRI," said her mother, Elaine as she highlighted the plates and screws that hold the woman's face together. "If she gets hit in the face, she could die."

McGuire expressed concern that any lighter sentence wouldn't have the necessary rehabilitative or deterrence effect. She cited the fact that blizzard and her friends were drinking the night of the crash; and, just two days after being convicted, Blizzard was pulled over for speeding and nearly hitting a state trooper.

"Why you wouldn't be the most cautious person in the world after that? There's some disconnect there that I don't really understand."

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