Driver Given 2 Years in Death

A 19-year-old Hollywood man, who was already on probation for drunk driving when he had an accident in which a North Hollywood woman was killed, was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison.

William A. Kowalski was sentenced by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Judith M. Ashmann after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Jaimie Willet, 21.

Willet met Kowalski at a North Hollywood nightclub on May 12, 1990, and was driven home by him in her car after she had too much to drink, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Schuit said.

But on the Ventura Freeway, the car went out of control and was struck broadside by another car, Schuit said. Willet was fatally injured. Authorities said Kowalski, who was on probation for a 1989 drunk-driving arrest, was again driving drunk at the time of the accident.

Because of the prior arrest, Schuit said he asked Ashmann to sentence Kowalski to a two-year prison term instead of probation. The maximum Ashmann could have received was four years.