Melrose Place Actress Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison After Drink Driving Death (VIDEO)
A Melrose Place actress has been sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday. Amy Locane-Bovenizer was handed the prison sentence by a New Jersey court in a dramatic sentencing hearing.
Locane-Bovenizer was found guilty of vehicular homicide in November by a jury, after she allegedly chose to drive despite drinking alcohol. That guilty verdict in the 2010 death of 60 year old Helene Seeman in Montgomery Township had left the former Melrose Place actress facing up to 10 years in prison.
However, Thursday's sentence was considerably more lenient than some reports had initially predicted, as the judge handed out just three years to the actress. The judge gave a lower sentence due to the hardship the actress' children could face with her being sent away for too long. According to CBS, one of the children has a medical and mental disability.
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Various media sources predicted that with the time Locane-Bovenizer has already served, it could mean that she will be back out of prison within six months.
After the sentence was was read out the victim's husband, clearly angry at the reduced sentence, reportedly shouted out, "What a travesty."
"She made me what I am today and to have it taken from you in a blink," Seeman said.
The actress has issued an apology to Seeman family for their loss, saying: "Please know the reality that I did cause you such loss haunts me everyday. I hope you know I never set out intentionally to put anyone at risk."
According to CBS, Seeman's son, Ford, said to Locane-Bovenizer during the victim impact statement phase: "My whole life I lived to do one thing … Make her proud. The act of murder. My mother deserves a harsher sentence than armed robbery — her diamond necklace wasn't taken her life was."
Here is a video report on the actress being found guilty last year:
