Socialite Rebecca Grossman wept as she found out her fate on Monday for killing two young brothers in a September 2020 hit and run.
Grossman, 60, was sentenced to 15 years to life after she was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death stemming from a crash that killed Mark, 11, and Jacob Iskander, 8, in a Westlake Village crosswalk,RadarOnline.com has learned.
She was also ordered to pay $47,000 in restitution.
Grossman struck the boys while speeding behind a car driven by her now-ex MLB lover Scott Erickson, known for being a former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, and then fled the scene.
The brothers tragically died after Grossman's Mercedes was believed to have hit them at high speed. Prosecutors claimed that she refused to take the blame and tried to pin it on Erickson, alleging that he struck the children first with his vehicle.
"Her action was grossly negligent which led to the loss of two lives, and she engaged in incredibly selfish behavior," JudgeJoseph Brandolino said during her sentencing hearing, for which her family and the Iskanders were present in the courtroom.
Prosecutors claimed that Grossman was impaired and had both alcohol and valium in her system at the time. Evidence suggested she was traveling 73 to 81 mph in a 45 mph just before the collision.
Earlier in court, the boys' mother, Nancy, recalled waiting for Jacob to take his last breath at the hospital. "He was turning blue and I had to leave the room," she told the court.
"I will say though I love her," Nancy stunningly added. "I do love Rebecca Grossman after all she did but I don't believe what they say about her because her actions speak about her."
In a typed letter to the judge pleading for leniency, Grossman expressed her regrets, writing, "I am not a murderer, and I ask you to recognize that true fact."
"My pain, my recognition of the pain the Iskanders suffer, and the pain I watch my family endure, are punishments that I already suffer and will for the rest of my life. Please consider this suffering when you consider what more punishment to impose on me in this case."
"As God is my witness, I did not see anyone or anything in the road," she wrote. "I swear to you, I would have driven my car into a tree to avoid hitting two little boys."
