A woman from Shiprock, N.M. has pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and assault after she reportedly crashed into another vehicle while she was driving drunk. She killed the mother in the other vehicle and injured a young man.
According to court documents, Courtney Frank operated a motor vehicle on Sept. 28 without due caution and circumspection and with a wanton and reckless disregard for human life when she knew and should have known that her conduct imperiled the lives of others. Frank, 19, was allegedly driving drunk and crashed her car head-on into a car driven by a mother and son, killing the mother and injuring the son.
Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced on Sept. 15 that Frank pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Frank, an enrolled member of Navajo Nation, will remain on conditions of release (including adherence to an alcohol-monitoring bracelet) pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.
At sentencing Frank faces up to eight years in prison, followed by a term of up to three years of supervised release.
The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Police Department and the New Mexico State Police. Assistant United States Attorney Zachary C. Jones is prosecuting the case.
