Theresa Lynn Owens, found guilty Oct. 8 of driving under the influence of methamphetamine when she drove the wrong way and ran down six bicyclists on Fiesta Island in 2014, received a sentence of 19 years in state prison Nov. 19. San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenia Eyherabide structured the sentence with consecutive terms that included five years for causing great bodily injury to Juan Carlos Vinolo, 44, of La Jolla, who is paralyzed from the chest down. Three-year consecutive terms were given for injuries to Robert Bernhard, who on Nov. 19 told the judge he found himself underneath Vinolo on the car’s windshield. Three years were also imposed for injuries to Beatrice Dormoy, who was partially embedded into the windshield, and to Stephen Hale, whose elbow was shattered. Terms of one year each consecutively were given for injuries suffered by Logan Bass, 27, of Pacific Beach, whose ribs were struck by the car mirror, and Kenneth Leipper, who testified he was “black and blue” from the car hitting him. Owens also drew three years consecutively for DUI. Vinolo had planned to attend the sentencing, but a last-minute medical complication caused him to miss it, said Deputy District Attorney Jessica Coto. Coto added that Vinolo requested the sentencing proceed “because he wants it to be over.” Owens, 50, of San Diego, unsuccessfully tried to fire her attorney, Brian Schmidt, during a closed-door hearing before sentencing. Meanwhile, Schmidt told the judge that Owens did not fully understand what she was doing on Aug. 12, 2014 at 6:30 p.m. at 1000 Fiesta Island Road. Owens asked Eyherabide to “not take away hope. I was having a very bad day. I’m thankful no one died.” Eyherabide scheduled a restitution hearing for Jan. 15 to determine if Owens should pay the medical expenses of the victims. She was fined $11,000 and given credit for 533 days spent in jail. Coto said Owens tried to use her car to run down her boyfriend some years ago. She was placed on probation then and ordered to complete an anger management program, but she never finished it, said Coto. Owens admitted to a police officer at the Fiesta Island site that she did “a small line of meth this morning because of my back pain.” Coto said “she knew she was a danger anytime she used drugs and got behind a car.” “She didn’t care. She continues to focus on herself,” said Coto. – Neal Putnam