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Colleen Eutermarks, 52, of Wantage had a bottle of vodka stashed in her purse during the rJan. 28, 2022 stop on County Road 565 in Frankford, State Police said.
She was taken into custody, then registered .34 on a breath test, they said.
That would be four times the legal limit for most civilian motorists but is eight times the .04 blood-alcohol content limit for a school bus driver.
Eutermarks rejected a plea deal from prosecutors and took her chances at trial on 27 separate child endangerment counts for each student from both Wallkill Regional High School and Franklin Elementary School who were on the full-sized yellow bus that day.
Jurors convicted her of all 27 counts last October in Superior Court in Newton. She has remained at the Morris County Correctional Facility in Morristown since then.
In addition to the prison sentence meted out by Superior Court Judge Michael C. Gaus last Thursday, June 6, Eutermarks was banned for life from ever again obtaining a commercial driver’s license.
Acting First Assistant Sussex County Prosecutor Sahil Kabse handled the case for the state, Acting Sussex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray said.
In addition to holding Eutermarks accountable, Murray said, the jury’s verdict also “sent a strong message that there are serious criminal consequences of operating a school bus while under the influence which are far beyond the consequences of a Driving While Intoxicated charge."
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