NJ Woman Pleads Guilty for Drunken Wrong Way Driving Crash that Killed Three in Bensalem

A New Jersey woman pleaded guilty Monday t0 driving drunk into oncoming traffic on 1-95 in Bensalem last year killing three. 

Priscilla Cortez, 33, pleaded guilty to three counts each of homicide by a vehicle while driving drunk, homicide by vehicle and related offenses. 

Bucks County Common Pleas Court Judge C. Theodore Frisch, Jr. deferred sentencing in the case for two months., 

Cortez was arrested and charged in May for the deaths of Ryan Connell, 28 and Leanne Popson, 35, of Levittown, and Lucas Galatko, 36, of Yardley.

She was driving the wrong way on I-95 in April of last year shortly after 1:30 a.m. as in the area of mile marker 33, according to court documents. 

Cortez, told police she had a lot to drink before the head on collision, court records show. She was taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital for treatment of her injuries, consenting to a blood draw after admitting she had been drinking that night, according to the criminal complaint. Cortez was blood alcohol level was approximately twice the legal limit, investigators said in court filings. 

The case was investigated by Pennsylvania State Police, Trevose Barracks, and was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Robert D. James.