Former Texas City commissioner gets probation for deadly crash, must spend wreck anniversary in jail

GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A former Texas City commissioner was sentenced to 10 years of probation Friday for the 2017 crash that killed a father and son.

Dee Ann Haney admitted to smoking marijuana before slamming her pickup truck into Van Le and Hong Le on July 3, 2017, even though blood tests detected no significant level of THC in her system.

The victims were on the side of the Galveston Causeway, trying to secure a piece of plexiglass in the back of their truck.

Last week, a jury convicted Haney of criminally negligent homicide.

They took eight-and-a-half hours to deliberate Friday before giving her probation and fining her $10,000.

"Of course, we're disappointed with that," Assistant Chief District Attorney Kacey Launius said. "We felt that prison was the appropriate punishment for a case like this given the harm that she's done to the Le family and our community."

A cousin of the victims who witnessed the crash called the sentence a "slap on the wrist."

Haney will also have to spend one day in jail on the anniversary of the crash for the next four years.

She served as a Texas City commissioner from 2013 to 2017, the year of the crash.

READ MORE: Who is Texas City Commissioner Dee Ann Haney?

The case dragged on for over six years and even saw new prosecutors take over.

"These vehicular crime cases are very, very difficult cases to try. There's a lot of science and technology, laboratory results," Launius said.

A lawsuit accuses Haney of veering out of her lane on the freeway and striking another car in 2022 while the 2017 charge was still pending.

The trial revealed she has epilepsy and takes medication for seizures.

Haney won't be allowed to drive again until a medical board clears her. She declined to comment to reporters outside the courtroom.

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