Published: July 07, 2009 01:53 pm      

Former New Albany-Floyd County bus driver pleads guilty to felony for driving drunk

New Albany woman faces up to three years in prison

NEW ALBANY — A former New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. bus driver pleaded guilty Monday to driving drunk while transporting a group of New Albany High School cheerleaders after a football game in 2006.

Sylvia Cooke, 63, will be sentenced Aug. 5 in Jackson County Circuit Court for class D felony operating while intoxicated with children under 18 in the vehicle, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.

Because it is an open plea, Judge William Vance will have complete discretion in sentencing. Under Indiana guidelines for a class D felony, she faces six months to three years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Police and school officials at the time stated that Cooke was driving 15 cheerleaders and their coach back to NAHS from a football game against Jennings County in North Vernon.

According to a police report, the coach asked Cooke to pull over at a gas station along Interstate 65 in Uniontown. The coach told police that Cooke had stopped at a green light, was traveling about 40 mph on the highway and was driving all over the roadway, according to court documents.

A state trooper arrested Cooke after determining she had a blood-alcohol content of 0.19 percent, more than twice the legal limit in Indiana.

Cooke resigned her position as bus driver shortly after her arrest.