A Wausau woman has reached a plea deal in a fatal 2006 drunken driving crash. Danielle Zdeb pled guilty to homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, causing injury while driving drunk and fleeing an officer. "Those are the charges we really did want to have accountability for, and the defendant did agree to plea to those," said Marathon County District Attorney Jill Falstad, who will drop several other charges in exchange for the plea.
The plea deal fell apart Wednesday but came together Thursday afternoon. Falstad will limit her sentencing recommendation to 17 years in prison. Zdeb admits speeding away from sheriff's deputies and crashing into a van in downtown Wausau, killing a Monroe man.
Falstad said the case is another sad reminder of what can happen when someone drinks and drives. "When people drink and drive, when they're intoxicated, when they're impaired, there are risks to everybody on the road," said Falstad. "And it has devastating consequences for the families that end up victimized."