Woman Faces 20 Years in Prison For Car Crash that Killed Husband

Allison Hawks Nasta, of New Hampshire, was convicted by an Atlantic County jury in the Pleasantville car crash that killed her husband in August, 2012.  The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office argued that Nasta was high on heroin when she drove her car straight into a pole without hitting her brakes.  Her husband, William Nasta, 34, was killed in the crash. She was also charged with endangering her two young daughters who were in the back seat.  She was additionally charged with hindering apprehension when she gave police a fake name because she was driving with a suspended license.

Although there was heroin found in the car at the time of the accident, tests taken by the New Jersey State Police revealed no heroin in Nasta’s system at the time of the accident.

The jury returned not guilty verdicts regarding the endangerment charges and hindering charges but found her guilty of vehicular homicide in her husband’s death.  She faces the possibility of 20 years in state prison and must serve 85 percent of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.  She will be sentenced on March 6, 2015.

DWI car accidents with injuries or death are taken very seriously by prosecutors in New Jersey and Atlantic County is no exception.  Here the state proved that the driver was under the influence of heroin and, therefore, driving recklessly under the vehicular manslaughter law.  A person can be convicted of DWI based on alcohol, drugs or a combination of alcohol with prescription medication or street drugs.