Crime & Safety
Mars Co-Owner Gets $2,500 Fine, Suspended License in Fatal Crash
The family of the elderly woman and unborn baby who died in the October crash in Virginia begged for leniency for multi-millionaire.
One of the world's richest women was sentenced to pay a $2,500 fine and have her license suspended for six months after she pleaded guilty to a reckless driving crash that killed an elderly woman and an unborn baby.
Jacqueline Badger Mars, 74, received her sentence Thursday in a Leesville, Va., courtoom, as the family of Irene Ellisor, the woman who died when Mars' Porsche SUV crashed into the minivanin which she was riding, pleaded for leniency, according to a report at NJ.com.
Mars is the co-owner of the Mars candy company, which is headquartered in Hackettstown.
Ellisor was riding with several other Texas women to a wedding on Oct. 4 in Aldie, Va. when Mars' vehicle crashed into them. Ashley Blakeslee, the driver of the vehicle, was a month away from giving birth. She lost her baby following the accident, NJ.com reported.
Saying they forgave Mars, Blakeslee and her baby's grandmother both begged the court for leniency for her, NJ.com said. The millionaire had faced up to a year in jail on the reckless driving charge.
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