JESSUP, Md. (AP) — A former Episcopal bishop who struck and killed a cyclist while driving drunk in Baltimore will ask for early release from her seven-year prison sentence.
Heather Cook, once the second-highest-ranking Episcopal leader in Maryland, pleaded guilty in October of 2015 to manslaughter, drunken driving and leaving the scene. On Tuesday she’s expected to ask the Maryland Parole Commission for early release. She was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Cook struck and killed 41-year-old cyclist Tom Palermo on Dec. 27, 2014. She left the scene for 30 minutes before returning, and her blood alcohol level was 0.22 — far higher than Maryland’s legal limit of 0.08.
Cook, who was the first female bishop in her diocese, had previously been arrested for drunken driving in 2010.
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