Crime & Safety

Woman Receives Stayed Sentence for Crash that Killed One

Authorities say Cassandra Balsimo was intoxicated and behind the wheel at the time of the accident.

A 30-year-old woman who caused a fatal crash in Eagan two years ago was sentenced to a stayed, four-year prison term on Tuesday.

Cassandra Deann Balsimo, of Inver Grove Heights, pleaded guilty last year to one count of criminal vehicular homicide in connection to an automobile crash that took the life of her 27-year-old passenger, Brenda Del Carmen Perez Lafarga.

According to a statement issued last year from the Dakota County attorney's office, Balsimo admitted to drinking wine prior to driving. During the accident, authorities say Balsimo's vehicle "flipped over several times."

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The accident occured around 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 12, 2010 at the junction of Interstate 35E and Lone Oak Road. According to the statement, a post-arrest investigation revealed Balsimo's blood alcohol level to be 0.18. The legal blood alcohol limit in Minnesota is 0.08.

Balsimo's four-year sentence was stayed for 10 years, and she was ordered to serve 180 days in jail. If Balsimo violates the conditions of her probation over the 10-year term, she will serve the full, four-year prison sentence.

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Balsimo's bail conditions include chemical dependency evaluation and treatment, restition and submitting to random testing.

Correction: This story was changed to correct an inaccuracy. Cassandra Balsimo's sentence is a stayed, four-year prison term.

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