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Driver gets 14 years in Santa Barbara ‘car surfing’ death

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The driver convicted in a 2012 “car surfing” incident that left one young woman dead and another seriously injured has been sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Lanie Tyrone Richardson, 29, was sentenced Thursday, according to the Santa Barbara County district attorney’s office.

The fatal accident occurred June 6, 2012, when Richardson and three others decided to go “car surfing,” an activity in which a person rides on top of a moving vehicle.

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Richardson, who prosecutors say was intoxicated at the time, drove his SUV over a speed bump at 70 mph and lost control, the Santa Barbara Independenr reported. Allison Meadows, 26, and her friend, Lindsay Keebler, 25, were riding on the hood of the vehicle when they were ejected.

Meadows was killed. Keebler survived, but was seriously injured.

Richardson was eventually arrested and charged that same month, prosecutors said. Last September, he pleaded no contest to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and personally inflicting great bodily injury to a second victim and having a prior felony conviction.

Additionally, he pled guilty to a misdemeanor for driving on a suspended license, the result of a prior DUI conviction.

Richardson apologized to members of Meadows’ family at the sentencing hearing Thursday, the Independent reported.

“This case is a painful reminder of the tragic results of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs,” Santa Barbara Dist. Atty. Joyce Dudley said.

Twitter: @latvives

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ruben.vives@latimes.com

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