Former WWE star Tammy “Sunny” Sytch was sentenced in a Florida court on Monday to 17 years in prison for a 2022 car crash that claimed the life of a 75-year-old man.
Sytch had pleaded no contests in August to charges stemming from a crash in March 2022 that killed Julian LaFrancis Lasseter.
The former wrestler and manager was alleged to have a blood alcohol content three and half times the legal limit, according to WKMG in Flordia.
The 50-year-old Sytch’s sentence includes eight years of probation after the completion of her prison term.
Her driver’s license has been permanently revoked as well, according to TMZ.
The sentence had been handed down just after 3 p.m. in a Volusia County courtroom following a hearing that lasted several hours.
During the hearing, Sytch did address the courtroom and at one point broke down in tears as she apologized for her actions.
Tammy Sytch is escorted to the defense table by Volusia Couty Sheriff’s bailiffs, Monday November 27, 2023 during her sentencing. David TuckerNews-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Happening Now: former WWE star & Hall of Famer Tammy Sytch is in court for sentencing. She pleaded no contest for a 2022 fatal crash where police say she was driving drunk. She faces up to 25 years in prison. @news6wkmg pic.twitter.com/lat4ZuSUZ8
— Molly Reed (@Mollyreednews) November 27, 2023
“I know my words are not enough. But please know I think about you every day,” Sytch said while looking back at the victim’s family, according to Fox35. “Every second of every day, and I will do whatever I can to make the changes I need to make sure this never happens again. No one should have to go through this and please know that every single second of every day since the crash, I wish I could change places with him.”
Sytch had been possibly facing up to 26 years behind bars for the crash that caused the death of Lasseter.
She was charged with a number of charges that included DUI causing death, causing death while operating a motor vehicle with a suspended or revoked driver’s license, four counts of DUI causing injury to a person and three counts of DUI causing damage to property.
Former WWE star Tammy “Sunny” Sytch was sentenced to 17 years in prison. WWE
Tammy Sytch in court for a hearing before Judge Karen Foxman at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach Nigel Cook/News-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Sytch had crashed into Lasseter, who had been stopped at a red light in the 100 block of North Yonge Street in Ormond Beach.
His car was pushed into another vehicle.
Lasseter died of his injuries.
Tammy Sytch looks back at the family members of Julian Lassiter, who she crashed into killing him in March 2022, as she reads a statement, Monday November 27, 2023 during her sentencing. David TuckerNews-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
“It changed everything to find out that my dad, our rock, was no longer with us,” said Whitney Lasseter Hill, Lasseter’s daughter, according to the Daytona Beach Journal-News. “He was my world. He was the most positive person. He loved life. And he was a man of God. He was my biggest cheerleader.”
Sytch had been arrested on at least six previous occasions relating to DWI charges and earlier this year she had been accused of threatening to kill her partner with a pair of scissors.
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