Woman convicted in 2006 crash gets four more years

A Henrico woman's plea for mercy and expressions of her own remorse this bangles didn't sway a circuit judge who focused more on her failed opportunities for potential rehabilitation.

Henrico Circuit Judge L.A. Harris Jr. ordered Kelly Lynn Gadsby to prison for an additional four years in a case filled with probation violations that included drug use and unlawful driving.

Gadsby, who turns 26 in two weeks, was released from a two-year jail sentence in January 2009; she'd been convicted in the highly publicized 2006 Christmas Eve deaths of two friends who died in a car crash near Westhampton Cemetery.

Gadsby tearfully recounted her post-jail rings with addiction this morning in a courtroom occupied by her friends and family and by the family of victim Hunter S. Jackson. Testimony showed she told a probation officer she'd used heroin and had periods of alcohol abuse; in addition, she unlawfully used her father's car after having her license suspended for three years.

A Henrico police officer found her dazed and behind the wheel of her father's car in December, almost 12 months after her release from jail on probation.

Harris this morning revoked three years of suspended time on involuntary mansalughter convictions and tacked on another year of suspended and new time for driving infractions.

Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Michael Huberman told the court that Gadsby's continuing probation Bestbuy tiffany "made a mockery" of a Henrico County jail program that Gadsby completed that is regarded as one of the best in the country for fighting addiction.

Credit: Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.