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Ex-WWE Hall of Famer Tammy 'Sunny' Sytch sentenced to 17 years for deadly car crash

Former WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Monday for causing the death of a man while driving drunk.

The 50-year-old Sytch was also sentenced to eight years probation after her jail time is complete.

Sytch pleaded no contest to eight charges in August: one count of DUI manslaughter; driving while license suspended with death; four counts of DUI with damage to person; and two counts of DUI with damage to property.

Authorities said on March 25, 2022, two vehicles were stopped at a traffic signal in Ormond Beach, Fla. A third vehicle was traveling in the same southbound direction on U.S. Highway 1 and failed to stop and crashed into one of the stopped vehicles, which caused that vehicle to then crash into the other vehicle in front of it.

The driver of the second vehicle was identified as Julian Lasseter, who was pronounced dead at a hospital. The driver and passengers in the third vehicle suffered injuries but did not go to a hospital. Sytch's blood-alcohol level was more than four times the legal limit for the state of Florida.

Tammy 'Sunny' Sytch looks back at the family members of Julian Lasseter on Monday November 27, 2023 during her sentencing in Daytona Beach. Sytch was driving drunk when her car crashed into Lasseter's vehicle in Ormond Beach in March 2022, killing him.
Tammy 'Sunny' Sytch looks back at the family members of Julian Lasseter on Monday November 27, 2023 during her sentencing in Daytona Beach. Sytch was driving drunk when her car crashed into Lasseter's vehicle in Ormond Beach in March 2022, killing him.

Sytch was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011 and had several previous drunk-driving arrests. She served eight months in jail for a DUI in 2018 and was charged in January 2022 with two counts of unlawful possession of a weapon and one count of terroristic threats.

Sytch apologized to Lassiter's family during her sentencing.

"A precious life was lost that tragic day and I'm so incredibly sorry for that," Sytch said. "I would ask that you give me the opportunity to atone for what I've done and then to be released to society to contribute to it in the most positive way possible."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: WWE Hall of Famer Tammy 'Sunny' Sytch sentenced to 17 years in prison