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February 18, 2010

Ducasse ordered to serve six years

By Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA — A woman convicted in a drunken driving crash that killed another driver was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison, with all but six years suspended and four years probation.

click image to enlarge

Heather Ducasse wipes her eyes while her father Peter Stone speaks during her sentencing hearing Thursday in Kennebec County Superior Court.

Joe Phelan

A jury three weeks ago found Heather A. Ducasse, 31, of Belgrade, guilty of charges of manslaughter and operating under the influence (death involved) in the July 11, 2008, crash on Smithfield Road in Belgrade.

Gail Hulsey, 57, of Litchfield, died in the two-vehicle, head-on crash. Hulsey’s teen-aged son and Ducasse’s daughter, then 4, were both injured.

At Thursday’s sentencing in Kennebec County Superior Court, Ducasse stood and faced the spectators in the courtroom, speaking directly to Hulsey’s family members.

“I just want to say I’m sorry,” she said. She told them it has been difficult for her to live with this accident. “I can’t imagine what you guys have to live with,” she said.

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