RI woman sent to prison for DUI, injuring teen

April 25, 2012

PROVIDENCE, R.I.—An East Providence woman who was driving drunk and struck a teenage girl who suffered serious injuries has been sentenced to a year in prison followed by four years of home confinement.

A Providence Superior Court judge sentenced 50-year-old Susan Benedetti on Tuesday. She pleaded guilty to DUI in February. Her license also was suspended for two years and she was ordered to undergo substance abuse treatment and pay restitution to the girl's family.

Police say Benedetti's blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit when she struck 14-year-old Brooke Gagne in East Providence on March 9, 2011. The girl suffered a brain injury and numerous broken bones, and was placed in medically induced coma for three weeks.

Benedetti apologized to the teen in the courtroom.