Former WWE Hall of Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch was sentenced Monday to 17.6 years in prison followed by eight years of probation for a deadly crash in which she was driving drunk.
Assistant State Attorney Ashley Terwilleger sought the maximum penalty of 25 years in prison for Sytch, whom prosecutors have called a “a danger to society” for repeated offenses. Sytch’s attorneys argued she has mental health issues, which they said make a much lower sentence more appropriate, according to court records.
Sytch, 50, pleaded no contest on Aug. 26 to one count of DUI manslaughter; driving while license suspended with death; four counts of DUI with damage to person; and two counts of DUI with damage to property.
Circuit Judge Karen Foxman adjudicated Sytch guilty and sentenced her to the 17 years in prison followed by the eight years’ probation during which she must meet conditions, including a substance abuse evaluation. Sytch also received credit for the more than one year she has served in the Volusia County Branch Jail.
Foxman denied a defense request for a “downward departure,” meaning a sentence below the state guideline minimum of about 10 1/2 years in prison.
Foxman said the facts of the case are “fairly egregious,” saying how Sytch admitted to drinking vodka and an open bottle of vodka was found in the car.
Sytch was driving a sedan on March 25, 2022, which crashed into a vehicle driven by Julian “Fran” Lasseter, who was stopped at a red light in the 100 block of North Yonge Street in Ormond Beach.
Lasseter’s vehicle was pushed into another and he died from his injuries.
Sytch’s blood-alcohol content was between 0.32 and 0.36 just less than an hour after the crash, according to records. That is four times the legal limit of 0.08, at which point a person is considered legally intoxicated. Sytch’s blood also showed signs of marijuana use.
Sytch told police at the hospital that she was unaware that she had been in a crash; she remembered making leftover burritos in her kitchen and that she drank some vodka. But she could not say how much she drank, records showed.
Sytch stood before the judge and asked for another chance. She said that when she was 16, she had wanted to be a doctor and mentioned how doctors take an oath to do no harm.
She said she did the opposite on the day of the fatal crash and brought harm to another person.
She listed some of the positives she has done in her life, bringing happiness to people through entertainment.
“I’ve made terminally ill children’s wishes come through the Make-a-Wish foundation,” she said. “I have done something horrible but I am so much more than the worse that I have done.”
She said she lost her father to heart disease when she was 20. And she said her 87-year-old mother died while she was in the Volusia County Branch Jail.
“I never got to say goodbye to her just as they didn’t get to say goodbye to their beloved family member,” Sytch said of Lasseter’s family.
At one point she turned and apologized to Lasseter’s family sitting in the gallery.
She said she wished she could change places with Lasseter.
“If I could bring Mr. Lasseter back and take his place I would in an instant,” Sytch said.
She said she believes the death of her fiancé, Chris Candido in 2005, and being unable to help him started her downfall.
“What followed was a huge trend of mistakes that I should have learned from,” Sytch said.
She said she could make a difference by helping to educate people about the dangers of drinking and driving as well as the dangers of not properly treating a mental illness.
“A precious life was lost that tragic day and I’m so incredibly sorry for that,” Sytch said. “I would ask that you give me the opportunity to atone for what I’ve done and then to be released to society to contribute to it in the most positive way possible.”
Lasseter’s family speaks of loss
Earlier in the proceeding, Lasseter’s younger brother, Kenneth Lasseter, spoke. Kenneth Lasseter said their father died when he was 15 and his brother, who was five years older, stepped in and became his father figure.
He said all the residents of the condominium in Daytona Beach Shores where Julian Lasseter lived said he was a “great guy.”
“Everyone spoke highly of him,” Kenneth Lasseter said.
Lasseter’s daughter, Whitney Lasseter Hill, spoke of the tremendous grief of losing her father.
She said no one should ever have to experience a police officer coming to their door at 2 a.m. to tell them that their father was killed in a car crash.
“It changed everything to find out that my dad, our rock, was no longer with us,” she said. “He was my world. He was the most positive person. He loved life. And he was a man of God. He was my biggest cheerleader.”
She said when she was a little girl her father would wake her up and say “It’s going to be a great day today” and he would play James Brown’s “I Feel Good.”
In later years, he would call or send an email and tell her he was proud of her.
She said her father was an avid University of Florida fan and had served as Gator Club president in Daytona Beach.
She said her father owned a couple of recovery houses and would work to help the tenants in those houses overcome their addictions.
He served on the board of Halifax Urban Ministries helping the homeless.
She said he was healthy and had big plans for the next 25 years of his life.
She said her children could have been in the car with their grandparent that day.
Both family members asked for the maximum prison time for Sytch.
Psychologists testify on Sytch’s behalf
Sytch’s defense attorney, Assistant Public Defender Jessica Roberts, presented testimony from John Fabian, a psychologist, who testified that Sytch had suffered some traumatic events in her life, including the death of her father and the 2005 death of former pro-wrestler Candido. Sytch had an approximately 15-year-long relationship with Candido, Fabian said. Sytch also lost a niece who died in a car crash, Fabian said.
Fabian also testified that Sytch had been in a number of relationships during which she had been a victim of abuse. She had been in a relationship with a police officer in the northeast who she said beat her. She had also been the subject of abuse from her boyfriend at the time of the crash.
Fabian did not identify the boyfriend by name. But James Pente previously said he was her boyfriend at the time of the crash. Pente walked out of the courtroom soon after the testimony.
Fabian said Sytch would respond to the chaos and failed relationships by “self-medicating” with alcohol.
Fabian testified that he diagnosed Sytch with depression and also found signs of bi-polar disorder. He also said her brain’s executive function, which makes decisions and controls impulses, was impaired.
During cross examination, Assistant State Attorney Helen Schwartz asked whether these problems were self-reported by Sytch. Fabian said yes, but he also said there was a report from a medical facility in 2014 noting depression.
Schwartz also asked whether being in jail, facing a long prison sentence, gaining weight and losing her fanbase and freedom could make Sytch depressed. Fabian said it could.
Assistant Public Defender Larry Avallone, who also represents Sytch, called Dr. Jeffrey Danziger who said he believed Sytch had bi-polar disorder. He said one reason he believed that was because medications intended to treat her depression were not helping.
Danziger also testified that Sytch had a very serious alcohol abuse disorder. He testified that addiction to alcohol was not a choice by the addicted person.
Danziger said that Sytch continued drinking despite suffering from pancreatitis due to the alcohol use and also being arrested for driving under the influence before the fatal crash for which she was sentenced Monday.
During the argument portion of the sentencing, Assistant Public Defender Avallone said that Sytch had shown remorse and had done good in her life despite her problems. He said she had an undiagnosed mental illness. He asked for leniency from the judge.
Terwilleger asked that Sytch receive the maximum sentence, pointing to her repeated violations of the law. She said in the span of one month in Pennsylvania in 2015, Sytch had been arrested three times for drunk driving.