SKOWHEGAN — An Etna woman will spend 11 months in jail for a single-vehicle rollover accident that killed her boyfriend.

Heidi L. Tasker, 23, apologized to the family of Kale Page, 19, of Palmyra, who was killed in the January 2010 crash in Palmyra, during proceedings at Somerset County Superior Court on Wednesday.

“She was sobbing, and tears were flowing down her cheeks. She was almost incapable of saying it, but she said it, and she meant it,” said her defense attorney Paul Sumberg, of Wright & Mills. “This was an accident. She had never been in trouble before.”

Judge John Nivison sentenced Tasker to 11 months in Somerset County Jail on a count of reckless conduct. He sentenced her to 10 years, all but nine months suspended, on the manslaughter count.

She will serve four years of probation and lose her driver’s license for five years.

Tasker pleaded guilty Wednesday to the charges, which stemmed from the crash on St. Albans Road that killed Page and ejected three of the four people in the truck, including Tasker.

She had been driving at a high speed when she rounded a corner and lost control. The truck flipped, landing in a snow bank. No one was wearing a seat belt. Alcohol was not a factor.

Tasker, Page and Rebekah Raymond, then 24, of Cushing, were ejected. Justin Moore, then 22, of Pittsfield, was not ejected. Per probation conditions, Tasker is not allowed to contact the survivors. She is also not allowed to contact the victim’s parents, Robert and Kathryn Page.

Assistant District Attorney Brent Davis said about 10 to 15 people were in court Wednesday to support Page’s family.

“They’re a very, very nice family. From everything we learned their son was a wonderful kid, and it’s a great tragedy,” he said.

The sentence was a reasonable one, he said. “At the time of her accident she had no prior criminal record. She took responsibility fairly early on and didn’t put the family through a trial,” Davis said.

Sumberg said he was also satisfied with the sentence. “She was speeding on the roadway, and her boyfriend was killed as a result of her conduct, and I thought this was a reasonable result, as did she. She has extraordinary remorse,” he said.

Tasker had been driving an ex-boyfriend’s 2002 GMC pickup the night of the fatal crash. That boyfriend had been injured some time before the crash when a gun he was cleaning went off, severely marring his face.

“In a very short life, she’s had some real difficulties,” Sumberg said.

Erin Rhoda — 612-2368

erhoda@centralmaine.com

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