Tiffany Graham is going to have six years to relearn her lesson.
That is the prison sentence Circuit Judge Daniel Perry imposed today on the 25-year-old for violating her probation in the 2004 DUI manslaughter death of her 15-year-old friend Deanna Cain.
It was the maximum he could impose under Graham's 2006 plea bargain, which included a ban on drinking and driving while on probation.
Graham was arrested last month after side-swiping a parked vehicle in the parking lot of Caddy's on the Beach, a restaurant and bar in Treasure Island, investigators said. She left the Dodge Magnum she was driving, witnesses said, and walked to the beach.
Graham failed a field sobriety test and refused a blood test, investigators said. She was charged with driving under the influence, driving with a suspended or revoked license and leaving the scene with property damage, according to the Pinellas County Jail website.
In May 2004, Graham was driving Cain and another teen to Regal Bowling Lanes on North Armenia Avenue when Graham made a left turn in front of an oncoming car, police said. The car struck Graham's 1992 Saturn on the passenger side.
Cain, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, was ejected and died.
Graham's blood-alcohol level was 0.088, investigators said. Florida law presumes impairment at 0.08. The driver of the oncoming car also had a blood-alcohol level higher than state law allows.
Graham pleaded guilty in June 2006 and was sentenced to 364 days in Hillsborough County jail, 200 hours of community service and six years of probation. She was banned from drinking or driving while on probation.
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