LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) -- Persistent felony offender Rebecca Johnson was sentenced to probation on weapon charges, in Jefferson Court Friday morning, June 8. The convicted DUI killer and drug dealer has never spent a day in prison.
In 2006, Johnson killed two people in a DUI crash. Police said she was driving over 100 miles per hour and tested her blood alcohol content at three times the legal limit. The family of one of those victims was in the courtroom.
As Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman read her decision to the courtroom, there was an interruption from the gallery.
"I just got through watching a show, so whenever you get through watching a show, I usually clap. And that was probably one of the best shows I've ever seen," Robin Seigwald, the family of one of Johnson’s victims said.
It was a painful 30 minutes for that family inside the courtroom. They said it’s been a painful 12 years waiting for justice.
"To still have to suffer through this 12 years down the road because the offender keeps on offending is just, it shouldn't happen," Seigwald said.
Johnson pleaded guilty to multiple charges in April, including possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.
"I thought maybe this time she would go to jail for a little bit of time," Tammy Williams, the mother of a victim, said.
Johnson's alleged crimes were first met with a possible 10-year prison sentence. But that was amended to three years in prison or five years on probation with a plea agreement.
A WHAS11 report revealed that plea agreement came after a mistake in the LMPD property room.
WHAS11 uncovered the gun, which was a key piece of evidence in the case, was mislabeled and then wrongly sold.
Without it, the prosecutor said they couldn't take the case to trial, meaning probation was a possibility again.
"I'm very skeptical about probating you”, Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman said in court on Friday.
Johnson's attorney argued she needed medical treatment for a traumatic brain injury, caused by that 2006 DUI. He said he couldn’t get that treatment she in prison.
Despite her hesitations, the judge granted Johnson probation.
"But for, and I'm going to say it again, but for, your current medical condition, brain injury situation, you would be going to prison today, no question. No question”, the judge said.
The judge warned Johnson that any probation violation will result in Johnson serving out the rest of her sentence from prison.
The family of her victims said that’s something they’ve heard before.
"One day I will be here again, and I hope I'm so wrong, but one day I will be here again saying I told you so," Williams said.