FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The victims of a crash while Shana Soto was driving drunk were in the courtroom when she was sentenced to four years in prison and 10 years of probation on Friday in Broward County.
The crash was on Nov. 2, 2021, in Hollywood. The impact threw Ana Verasetgui, one of the victims, 10 feet away from where she had been having dinner.
“I do not forgive her,” said Verasetgui, who lost the lower part of both of her legs.
Broward County Circuit Judge Edward Harold Merrigan Jr., who presided over the case, listened to Soto say that she had started to abuse alcohol after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a long-lasting disease of the central nervous system. The diagnosis was in 2005 and records show she got divorced in 2011.
“I am truly sorry because of the choice that I made to get behind the wheel,” Soto said in court about driving drunk.
Prosecutors said Soto also had cocaine and THC in her system when she swerved past a fire truck, hit a curb, went on the sidewalk, and rammed right through an outdoor dining area near Young Circle Park.
While asking the judge for 13 years in prison, prosecutors also said Soto had a history of crashes, traffic infractions, and drug use before the crash happened. The defense asked the judge for house arrest since Soto was remorseful and her health was deteriorating.
Marcello Santolalla pushed Verasetgui’s wheelchair into the courtroom. They were engaged when they were having dinner outside. He said they were lucky not to have died while pinned under Soto’s car.
“When you ran us over and I was holding Ana’s legs, I saw you come down of the car,” Santolalla said. “You were completely drunk.”
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