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CANFIELD -- Columbiana County Recorder Theresa Bosel avoided trial in a traffic fatality case by pleading no contest to vehicular manslaughter charges Tuesday in Mahoning County Municipal Court.
She was found guilty by Judge Molly Johnson, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 29.
According to other media reports, the plea deal reached with the prosecutor's office calls for Bosel to be sentenced to 30 days house arrest, fined $150, placed on probation for one year and her license suspended for one year. The maximum possible sentence is 90 days in the county jail and $750 fine
Bosel, 49, was charged with vehicular manslaughter in the August 2019 traffic accident that took the life of 69-year-old Cecil Chamberlain. Bosel was driving on a two-lane road in Mahoning County when her Jeep Wrangler went left of center, striking a GMC Terrain and a Ford Fusion driven by Chamberlain. Chamberlain died and his wife, Roberta, was treated for injuries at a local hospital.
Neither Bosel, the driver of the Terrain nor the passenger in the Terrain were injured.
In her statement, Bosel denied driving left of center. She passed the field sobriety test administered at the scene by a state highway patrol trooper but declined to provide a urine sample.
Bosel last appeared in court on Sept. 25 to formally accept a plea deal similar to the one she agreed to on Tuesday. The original plea deal called for her to be sentenced to 30 days house arrest, fined $500 and for her license to be suspended for two years.
At the Sept. 25 hearing, the prosecutor's office said they wanted to also require Bosel undergo an evaluation by the highway patrol to determine her future driving status because it was alleged the accident was the result of a blackout. Bosel rejected the plea deal based on the additional stipulation, and the case was scheduled for trial Nov. 10.
Bosel also faces a wrongful death civil suit filed by Chamberlain's wife. Mrs. Chamberlain's attorney told the judge in August the family believe Bosel should serve some jail time and they also want to address the court at any sentencing hearing.
Bosel was up for re-election this year, but her candidacy petitions were invalidated after the county elections board determined she had improperly filled them out.
tgiambroni@mojonews.com