LV woman sentenced in drunken driving case

Bill Gang

Friday, May 22, 1998 | 10:14 a.m.

A Las Vegas woman who once was the victim of a drunken driver was sentenced Thursday to four to 10 years in prison for a drunken driving accident she caused.

Although Cheryl Reilly's prison term already had been decided for the collision that killed one child and injured two others, her sentencing hearing provided a chance for face-to-face closure in the emotional case.

The victims' families had a chance Thursday to tearfully tell of the devastation her drinking and driving on Feb. 8, 1997, had caused.

And it gave Reilly the opportunity to tell them she was sorry, something she said she had wanted to do from the beginning but was prevented by her attorney as the felony case plodded through the system.

Reilly, 39, eventually pleaded guilty to a single DUI count in the plea bargain that dictated a sentence of four to 10 years in prison and required the dismissal of two other DUI charges from the same incident.

Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said Reilly was zipping through traffic at a high rate of speed when she caused the accident that killed 11-year-old Cody Vesely. She was one of three passengers in a 1994 Ford Explorer driven by Fay Bradford, 47, that was struck by Reilly's car at Russell Road and Lamb Boulevard.

Booker said that although the girls were using seat belts, the seat back broke and Vesely was thrown into a pole. Bradford's 11-year-old daughter, Irene, also was thrown from the Explorer.

The Bradfords and 11-year-old Julie Koch were transported to University Medical Center for treatment along with Reilly, who Booker said had been seriously injured in a 1988 accident caused by a drunken driver on Interstate 15.