Related stories:  Widow speaks out after car fire death   Mpls. woman charged in fatal fiery crash  1 dead in firey crash in Brooklyn Center [12.3.08]  Mpls. City Council approves settlement in assault case [8.22.08]  Mpls. city employee accused of assaulting co-worker [8.19.08]

A woman whose blood alcohol content was four times the legal limit when she caused a deadly crash, according to police,entered a guilty pleas Monday.

Melissa Heus pleaded guilty to one count of criminal vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular operation for the crash that killed James Wolter.

According to the criminal complaint, on December 13, Heus sped through the intersection of Highway 252 and 66th Avenue in Brooklyn Center. She slammed her vehicle into several cars--including Wolter's--at more than 80 miles per hour.

Police said her blood alcohol content was .36. The legal limit for operating a motor vehicle is .08.

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office is asking the judge for an upward departure from sentencing guidelines that call for a four-year sentence for Heus. The prosecution wants Heus to serve eight years, in part because Heus has prior convictions for DWI.

The defense wants the judge to sentence Heus to four years on the criminal vehicular homicide charge and stay a sentence on the criminal vehicular operation charge. In that instance, Heus would be sent back to prison if she doesn't stay out of trouble after she's released.