After violating probation, Reed sentenced to state prison

RENSSELAERVILLE — Rebecca Reed was sentenced to one to three years in state prison on Wednesday after she pleaded guilty, in front of Judge Roger McDonough in Albany Country Supreme Court, to violating the terms of her felony probation.

The 35-year-old woman from Lake Luzerne was arrested in Rensselaerville on Feb. 9, 2013, after she drove through a stop sign and into a snow bank, striking a utility pole, according to a release from Albany County District Attorney David Soares.

When emergency personnel arrived at the scene, Reed became belligerent, and punched one of the first responders in the face, refused to give her name and address, had an open bottle of liquor in her purse, and showed multiple signs of intoxication, the release said; after being taken into custody, Reed refused to submit to a chemical test to determine her blood alcohol content.

Following the arrest, Reed pleaded guilty to aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a felony, and driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to six months of weekends at Albany County’s jail, as well as three years’ probation for the DWI, concurrent with five years of felony probation for the aggravated unlicensed operation conviction.

When Reed pleaded guilty, she was informed that, if she failed to follow the conditions of her felony probation, the court could find her in violation of the conditions and sentence her to time in state prison, said the release.

Reed had agreed to be bound by the terms of the probation.

However, after she was sentenced, she admitted to taking heroin, failing to report to the Albany County jail as directed, and failing to report a change of address to the Albany County Probation Department.

As a result, the court found her in violation of her felony probation, and sentenced her to one to three years in state prison on the aggravated unlicensed operation conviction, with a concurrent six months in state prison for the DWI, to be followed by three years of probation and the installation of an ignition interlock device, the release said.

The case was prosecuted by Vehicular Crimes Unit Bureau Chief Marty Tanner-Richter.

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