The saga of a woman on DUI probation for a Tampa DUI manslaughter conviction continued on Wednesday. Tiffany Marie Graham has been sentenced to six years in prison for violating her DUI manslaughter probation by leaving Hillsborough County without permission. The conviction dates back to a 2004 drunk driving accident that cost her 15-year-old passenger her life.
Graham was sentenced to one year in jail and six years probation following that fatal crash. She avoided a harsh Florida DUI sentence following that accident but she wasn’t so lucky this time after violating her probation. The Assistant State Attorney in the case told the judge that Graham had not learned from her mistakes nor did she take advantage of her opportunity that was presented to her following her conviction.
The judge obviously felt the same way by handing down the six year prison sentence. Graham is currently facing four counts related to a DUI charge in Pinellas County. She has pled not guilty to those charges and they were not brought up in her VOP hearing but it did lead her attorney to tell TampaBay.com that she needs help for alcohol abuse and mental health problems. Graham admitted to drinking alcohol the day of her June arrest in the parking lot of a Treasure Island establishment.
The mother of her 2004 victim never felt Graham really took the situation seriously and she also felt that Graham’s apology at her DUI manslaughter trial rang hollow at the time. The controversy surrounding Graham grew when she was arrested for DUI in Pinellas County. Karen Cain, the mother of the 15-year-old, represented the frustration many people had with Graham once again being drunk behind the wheel after a previous DUI manslaughter conviction in an interview with WTSP.com. She told the TV station that a tougher jail sentence the first time around may have stopped Graham from drinking and driving again although she isn’t even sure that would have been the case.
