La Quinta woman sentenced in deadly July 4th crash

A woman who killed a 64-year-old man in an alcohol-fueled crash last July 4 near Idyllwild was sentenced today to 16 years in state prison.

Maryjane Anne Plante, 47, of La Quinta pleaded guilty earlier this month to DUI gross vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level of .10 or higher and a sentence-enhancing allegation of fleeingthe scene of a crime.

In exchange for her admissions, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office dropped a second-degree murder charge and several great bodily injury enhancements against Plante.

Superior Court Judge Jorge Hernandez certified the terms of the plea agreement and imposed the sentence stipulated by the prosecution and defense after hearing from family and friends of the victim, Toribio Sanchez-Vidaca of Escondido, at the Banning Justice Center.

Hernandez also ordered the defendant to pay $2,439 in victim restitution. The amount was calculated using an undisclosed Department of Probation formula.

The nighttime crash occurred near the intersection of state Route 74 and Carrizo Road, in the unincorporated community of Mountain Center, south of Idyllwild.

California Highway Patrol Officer Darren Meyer said Plante was headed east on the highway in her 2005 Toyota Tundra when she allowed the pickup truck to cross over the double yellow lines and collide head-on with the victim’s westbound 1999 Nissan Maxima. The defendant fled the location on foot immediately after the collision.

Sanchez-Vidaca was airlifted to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm
Springs, where he died a short time later.

His passenger, a 58-year-old Escondido woman, suffered moderate injuries.

A day after the crash, a witness called the CHP and identified Plante as
the driver of the Tundra, Meyer said. Officers found her waiting for a friend
at the former Lake Hemet Market in Mountain Center, where she was arrested
without incident.