2-YEAR SENTENCE IN DEADLY CRASH.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- A Lancaster man was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for driving drunk and causing a crash that killed a woman who was riding in his car.

William Wade, 58, was charged in the Oct. 23, 2005, crash that killed Janney Phillips, 42, of Lancaster, who was riding in Wade's car when it rear-ended a compact car broken down on Sierra Highway.

Wade was sentenced after he pleaded no contest to felony vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence after prosecutors agreed to dismiss other charges.

``He got two years' state prison, which is the midterm,'' Deputy District Attorney Tamar Tokat said. ``A post-trial judge would most likely give no more than the midterm.''

Wade's attorney said his client pleaded to avoid a higher sentence of four years in prison.

``He pled to avoid the risk of trial and a harsher sentence,'' attorney Robert Haberer said.

Wade's blood-alcohol content was measured at .10 percent, above the state limit of .08 percent, the level at which motorists are presumed to be too drunk to drive.

Wade told police he had consumed whiskey and beer and smoked marijuana before driving to the store to buy more beer for Phillips, prosecutors said.

His 1993 Ford rear-ended a 1991 Mitsubishi driven by Juan Velasquez, 22, of Lancaster, which had broken down on Sierra Highway south of the Avenue H overpass.

The four passengers in Velasquez's car -- a 24-year-old woman and three children, ages 9, 6 and 1 month -- were uninjured, although the infant was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital as a precaution.

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

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