Angle sentenced on vehicular homicide charge

The woman found guilty this fall of causing a fatal Lake County accident a year ago has been sentenced.  50-year-old Natalie Angle was found guilty of vehicular homicide and DUI in a court trial in Lake County Circuit Court in October.  Circuit Judge Pat Pardy found Angle guilty for drinking, speeding, and crossing into the oncoming lane of Highway 34 west of Madison in December of 2018, causing the accident that killed 69-year-old James Birgen of Madison.  

Judge Pardy on Tuesday sentenced Angle to serve fifteen years in the state penitentiary on the vehicular homicide charge.  The judge suspended two years of Angle’s sentence based on several conditions, some of which include that she pay fine and costs of one-thousand dollars, make restitution of just more than 33-hundred dollars, and re-pay her court-appointed attorney’s fees.  On the DUI charge, Judge Pardy sentenced Angle to serve 350-days in jail and gave her credit for that same amount of days she’s already served in connection with the charges. Angle also must pay close to six-hundred dollars in fine and costs on the DUI charge.  The judge ordered that Angle serve both sentences concurrently.  

State’s Attorney Wendy Kloeppner had two of Birgen’s children provide testimony during Tuesday’s sentencing hearing.  Both his son and daughter said that their father was a hard-working man who was always willing to help people, that it’s hard to believe that he’s gone, and that they had hoped to see Angle show more remorse for what she had done.  

Angle spoke during her sentencing hearing, saying that she wished that no one would have to experience the pain that she caused the Birgen family.  She said that she takes responsibility for her actions, which affected so many people’s lives and she prays for the family to find peace.