Woman High on Meth While Killing Man in Car Sentenced to 13-Years

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<font face="Tahoma" size="2" color="black"><span dir="ltr" style="font-size: 10pt;">The Fresno woman who blew through a red light and killed another driver in Fresno last August was sentenced in court on Thursday. Roberta Soto, who is 45-years old, was sentenced to 13-years in state prison for killing 26-year old Matthew Harkenrider of Clovis. Police said Soto was high on methamphetamine and was driving a stolen vehicle at the time of the crash.<br /> <br /> Though Soto’s defense attorney Alan DeOcampo asked Fresno County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Skiles for mercy and for a lesser sentence, Soto received the near maximum 13-years. Fresno County Deputy District Attorney Dennis Verzosa said Soto will have to serve at least 85% of her time.<br /> <br /> Verzosa said, &quot;I’m not satisfied, because whatever time we impose, Matthew will never come back.&quot;<br /> <br /> Soto has a history of drug abuse. Investigators said on the August morning of the crash, Soto was clutching a meth container when she arrived for treatment at Community Regional Medical Center.<br /> <br /> DeOcampo said to Harkenrider’s family in court on Thursday morning, &quot;She is extremely remorseful for the actions that she did. The result of your loss.&quot;<br /> <br /> But Judge Skiles argued Soto’s actions cannot be excused.<br /> <br /> Skiles said, &quot;There is no one in our society at this point in time that can claim to get behind the wheel of a car under the influence of alcohol and or drugs with any thought that they aren’t putting other people’s lives in danger.&quot;<br /> <br /> Gwen Pfost, a Victim Witness Advocate, read a letter in court on Thursday written by Megan Harkenrider, Matthew’s widow.<br /> <br /> &quot;On August 14, 2014 my life forever changed. Before I left for work that morning, I hugged and kissed my husband Matthew goodbye, like it was any other morning. Little did I know that that would be the last time I would ever be able to do so. If I would have known that less than 30 minutes after the two of us said goodbye he would be involved in a horrific accident that took his life, I would have hugged him a little tighter, and never let him go,&quot; read Pfost.<br /> <br /> Pfost continued, &quot;Matthew and I had the whole world going for us. We had so many dreams and aspirations for our future that we were both working to achieve. We were so happily married, we both had wonderful careers, and we had just bought our dream home four months before he was taken from me. We were so excited to start a family of our own and live the life we had always dreamed of together.&quot;<br /> <br /> Megan found out she and Matthew were expecting their first baby together just days before the car crash.<br /> <br /> Pfost read, &quot;Six days before Matthew died, we learned that our dream was coming true. We were expecting our first baby, and life could not been any better at that time.&quot;<br /> <br /> Soto barely spoke a word in court, only answering the judge when spoke to. Judge Skiles reminded Soto that when she is out of prison, if she gets into another DUI crash and kills someone again, she will likely face murder charges. Soto will also have to pay $5,000 in restitution fees.</span></font></div>