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$6.5M settlement for family of man killed by rock crusher

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The Courtdale woman who pleaded guilty to killing her backseat passenger in a DUI wreck was sentenced to prison Friday.</p><p>Audrey Sutton, 22, was sentenced by Luzerne County Judge Thomas F. Burke Jr. to three to six years in a state prison for a count of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence.</p><p>She will also serve two years of probation for a count of homicide by vehicle after she is released from prison.</p><p>She received no credit for time served.</p><p>Sutton was ordered to pay $9,092 in total restitution to Edwardsville Police, the Luzerne County Coroner, Edwardsville Ambulance and Christa Michalek, the mother of her late victim.</p><p>More than $4,200 of the restitution money will be going to the victim&#8217;s family.</p><p>Sutton pleaded guilty in August. </p><p>She told police that she had been drinking and would likely have marijuana in her system after she crashed her car on Oct. 23 last year, court records show.</p><p>A blood test revealed that her blood-alcohol content was .197 percent, more than twice the .08 driving limit, and she also had amphetamines and Oxycodone in her system.</p><p>The wreck occurred while she was trying to round a corner on East Main Street in Edwardsville, striking a concrete stoop.</p><p>Casey Michalek, 21, of Kingston, was a passenger in the backseat. He was rushed to a hospital, where he died two days later as a result of multiple traumatic head injuries.</p><p>A passenger in the front seat was uninjured.</p><p>An employee at Rob&#8217;s Pub and Grub in Larksville, where Sutton was working, told police that Sutton got a free beer after getting off work. She put $20 on the table, proceeding to have several more alcoholic drinks with her boyfriend.</p><p>Sutton had six pints of beer that night, along with three shots, investigators believed, noting that she weighed less than 100 pounds.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_web1_TTL020317Audrey-Sutton1-cmyk-2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sutton </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_web1_TTL020317Audrey-Sutton1-cmyk-2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Sutton </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Courtdale woman, 22, gets three to six years after killing man while driving drunk