Ex-Rams Star France Gets Year in Jail in Traffic Death of Neighbor

Former Los Angeles Rams lineman Doug France was sentenced to one year in jail Thursday after admitting that he was driving drunk when his Laguna Hills neighbor was killed last year in a two-car accident.

France pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol and was sentenced to a year in Orange County Jail and five years’ probation by Municipal Judge Pamela Iles. France, a former two-time Pro Bowl performer, faced four years in state prison, the maximum sentence allowed by law.

France was scheduled to start serving his term in September, but because of jail overcrowding, his sentence could be commuted to a work-furlough program and he might not go to jail at all, Deputy Dist. Atty. Carl Biggs said, adding that his sentence had been referred to the Probation Department.

“France has a good probation report and he clearly showed he was remorseful,” Biggs said. “The judge was also concerned about the physical effects (that France) suffered in the accident,” he added.

France sustained a concussion and broken pelvis; he spent a month in the hospital and still suffers from the injuries, Biggs said. France, who weighed nearly 300 pounds at the height of his football career, now weighs less than 200 pounds, Biggs added.

The accident occurred about 4:35 p.m. on May 5, 1990, when France was returning to his townhouse after watching an NBA playoff game on television with a friend. While driving his 1987 BMW north at about 75 m.p.h. on winding Aliso Hills Drive near La Cienega Street in Laguna Hills, France crossed the center line into oncoming traffic and was hit broadside by a 1989 Mazda driven by Maria Concepcion Contreras, 53, according to reports from the California Highway Patrol.

Contreras was pronounced dead at the scene. Tests revealed that France’s blood-alcohol level at the time of the accident was 0.13--over the legal limit of 0.08, according to the CHP.

Although they did not know each other, it turned out that France and Contreras were neighbors in their Crestline townhouse complex.

Members of the Contreras family declined to comment Thursday on the judge’s decision.

France, an offensive lineman and former star at Ohio State University, retired in 1981 after playing for the Rams for six years. He was selected to the Pro Bowl team in 1978 and 1980. He now owns an office supply company in Irvine.