A serial drunk driver from Florida has been sentenced to just over 23 years in prison for a DUI crash that killed a father and son heading to a college orientation last summer.
Leslie Gehret, 41, entered pleas of no contest Monday in an Orange County court to two counts of DUI manslaughter and one count each of vehicular homicide, driving with a suspended license and causing serious bodily injury or death.
As part of a plea deal, she was sentenced to 280 months in prison, followed by 12 months of probation stemming from the alcohol-fueled July 2023 crash that killed Shane Lloyd, 50, and his son Jakob Lloyd, 19.
Once she’s out on probation, Gehret will have to complete 50 hours of community service and attend DUI school. The sentence also includes a permanent driver’s license suspension, according to the Office of the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit.
On July 9, Shane and Jakob Lloyd, traveling from Colorado, were making a turn in Orlando en route to University of Central Florida’s campus, where the son was set to begin classes in the fall, when Gehret ran a red light and slammed into their car, causing it to flip over multiple times, prosecutors said.
Shane Lloyd died at the site of the crash, while his son succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. Gehret walked away from the collision with only minor injuries.
Information obtained from Gehret’s car’s electronic data recorder reportedly found that she was doing 94 mph at the moment of impact.
When deputies caught up with Gehret at the hospital, they noted that her eyes were bloodshot and she smelled of booze, according to prosecutors. Testing later determined that the woman’s blood alcohol content was above the legal limit for driving even 5 hours after the wreck.
Gehret was also found to be driving with a suspended license while serving a probation related to an earlier DUI arrest — one of three she had racked up over the past decade.
Gehret, previously of New Rochelle, New York, was sued for damages in 2022 for a separate wreck that left Alexander Chapman with a “permanent injury,” according to court records.
At the time of his death, Jakob Lloyd was slated to study forensic chemistry at UCF, according to his family.