MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CELEBRITY NEWS

'Melrose Place' star Amy Locane back in jail for 8 years for fatal DWI crash after serving earlier sentence

She had already served time for the car crash that killed a 60-year-old woman in 2010. This ruling was given because the judge agreed with prosecutors that her previous sentencing was too lenient

Former ‘Melrose Place’ actress Amy Locane was sentenced to eight years in prison by Superior Court Judge Angela Borkowski on September 17. The 48-year-old has already served a prison sentence for her involvement in a fatal DWI car crash in New Jersey, according to a People report. An Associated Press report has now stated that this ruling was given because the judge agreed with prosecutors that her previous sentencing was too lenient.

She was sentenced for second-degree vehicular homicide along with 18 months for fourth-degree assault by auto, according to a Daily Mail report.

The state law requires her to serve more than six years before she is eligible for parole. In 2013, Locane went to prison. She served nearly two-and-a-half years of a three-year sentence on charges of vehicular homicide and assault that killed 60-year-old Helene Seeman and seriously injured her husband, Fred Seeman, in an incident which took place in 2010.

On September 17, the actress apologized to the victims' family in a brief statement. "You made a conscious decision to drink that day and continued to drink, recognizing at the onset that you needed a ride, but didn’t obtain one," the judge told Locane during the proceeding. "If you hadn’t gotten behind the wheel of your vehicle on this night, the incident never would have happened."

Locane's attorney James Wronko told People that he is "shocked" by the new development and "embarrassed to be part of a system that can do this." He said, “She has been out of prison for five years. She did everything they asked, and went above and beyond.” He also added that Locane has spent years following her prison release coaching others about the dangers of alcohol abuse. "She's apologized at every sentencing proceeding."

Locane currently has 45 days to appeal her sentence. Wronko informed that a petition for the New Jersey Supreme Court to hear his appeal based on double jeopardy principles is pending, according to the People report.

Amy Locane’s legal troubles

This was Locane's fourth sentencing in nearly a decade. Following the crash in 2010, it was found that Locane's blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the limit for legal impairment. She was convicted for vehicular homicide and assault by auto in 2012. In 2013, Montgomery Superior Court Judge Robert B Reed sentenced her to three years in prison for the crime, imposing less than the minimum five-year sentence due to factors that included consideration of her children's welfare.

Locane served her sentence at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women and was released on parole in 2015. Late in 2015, according to People, her husband Mark Bovenizer filed for divorce and her visitation rights with her children were limited.

In 2017, when Superior Court Judge Robert B Reed refused to change his previous sentence despite an appeals court’s concerns that it was too lenient, Locane told NJ Advance Media in an interview, as stated by People, "I had worked so hard since 2010 on my sobriety, on adjusting to life in prison, on being released from prison, on acclimating to my children’s lives, and to parole that having to go back would seriously interrupt, if not destroy, any progress I had made in becoming human again."

Superior Court Judge Kevin Shanahan’s ruled that Locane should be sent to prison for five years after her first two convictions from another judge were overturned for being too short under minimum sentencing guidelines. However, Shanahan's ruling was rejected by an appeals court in July 2020.

Twitter reacts

One user questioned, "Not sure if a judge trying to hand down a tougher sentence 7 years after the original sentencing is cruel or not, but it is most certainly unusual. With that much time passing, the original sentence should stand. Where has the prosecution been for the last seven years, anyway?" Another said, "Can someone explain how it’s legal to send someone back to prison after serving their initial time without breaking their parole? Obviously I don’t condone drunk driving but I’m curious about this."

Film critic Mike McGranaghan said, "Let Amy Locane's story be a warning against drinking and driving. Everyone's life was ruined by her actions, including her own."