DEFENDANT GETS 13 YEAR JUDGE SAYS BEING SORRY IS NOT ENOUGH IN DEPUTY'S DEATH.

Byline: David Greenberg Staff Writer

VENTURA-A 37-year-old Ventura woman was sentenced to the maximum 13 years in prison Thursday for her vehicular manslaughter conviction in the death of sheriff's Deputy Lisa Whitney.

Tanya Dawn Pittman was given a second-strike sentence by Judge Donald Coleman, who acknowledged the defendant's sincere regret but said he could not overlook her long criminal history prior to the Aug. 12, 1998 crash.

``It is not often that somebody comes before me that has now been convicted of five felony offenses,'' Coleman said. ``I've heard references to `an accident' and I don't find this to be an accident. If anything, it is the expected consequence of driving a vehicle under the influence of drugs.''

Pittman had taken an illegal methamphetamine and an over-the-counter muscle relaxant called Soma shortly before she plowed her truck into Whitney's unmarked cruiser at Hill Street and Telephone Road in Ventura, just a block from Sheriff's Department headquarters, prosecutors said.

She was also driving 56 mph in a 45 zone.

Pittman's first-strike offense was a manslaughter conviction in San Diego in 1981 - a fact defense attorney Robert Sanger could not persuade Coleman to ignore in a plea for leniency.

``Miss Pittman has felt remorse that has been bottled up inside her for a long time,'' Sanger said of Whitney's death. ``This is a terrible, terrible tragedy that impacts the lives of many people.''

Prosecutor Richard Simon acknowledged Pittman's sorrow, but pressed the judge to hand down the maximum penalty, citing the difference between remorse and taking responsibility for one's actions.

``She continues to deny her use of methamphetamine,'' Simon said. ``This is a person who has not led a blameless life.''

Pittman was convicted Oct. 20, 1999, by jurors who seemed unmoved by the fact that the traffic light in the intersection was not working.