BALTIMORE (AP) — A Maryland judge has denied a request to reduce a five-year prison sentence for a former Episcopal bishop who was drunk and texting when she struck and killed a bicyclist with her vehicle.
Baltimore Circuit Judge Timothy Doory rejected Heather Cook’s request at a Monday hearing. She had been seeking a reduction by having two of her four sentences changed so they would run concurrently instead of consecutively.
The 62-year-old has served about three years for the 2014 collision that killed Thomas Palermo.
Prosecutors and Palermo’s relatives have opposed Cook’s bid for early release.
Cook was the second-highest-ranking Episcopal leader in Maryland when the crash occurred.
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