The clueless Sonia Ortiz

Yesterday Palm Beach County Judge Jorge Labarga sentenced Sonia Ortiz to seven years in jail for the death of West Palm Beach motorcycle officer Thomas Morash. In October 2003 a car driven by Ms. Ortiz was involved in an auto accident with Officer Morash. At the time of the accident, Ms. Ortiz had no driver's license.

This case has been controversial almost from the start but I agree with what Judge Labarga did yesterday. Ms. Ortiz a mother of three children and pregnant with a fourth child at the time of the accident had not been totally at fault in the crash. A intersection with poor visibility and possibility that Officer Morash was speeding being contributing factors(The experts couldn't agree on Morash's speed and the West Palm police may have twisted the facts to fit their case) to the fatal crash but there was no doubt Ms. Ortiz broke the law. It's a felony charge if someone dies as a result of driving a car while not being licensed.

Judge Labarga in 2004 sentenced Sonia Ortiz to 7 years probation. At the time I agreed with that sentence. However Ms. Ortiz flaunted the law and continued to drive. This led to her arrest for violating her parole agreement. See she was driving her children to school at the time. What was this woman thinking? She killed someone, was given a 2nd chance and continued to drive.

Ms. Ortiz lawyer pled for leinency but Judge Labarga said "It's now my duty to protect society,". It is, Sonia Ortiz had her second chance and failed it miserably.

Justice was rendered and I don't feel the least bit sorry for Ms. Ortiz. Because of her actions, 6 children, 4 of hers and 2 of Thomas Morash's are without a parent. They are the ones I feel sorry for.

Click here if you want to read the entire Palm Beach Post article.